Proteroglypha
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Proteroglypha, from the Greek words vaguely meaning 'front grooved'. The term generally refers to a group of venomous snakes which have front of the jaw positioned, fixed fangs that are specially grooved for venom delivery. This primarily includes the elapid snakes, including the cobras. Usually the grooves are so deep that the sides overlap forming a channel for the venom to flow directly through and into a victim. Other types of fang and venom delivery include: solenoglyphous or 'pipe grooved', like vipers that have hollow fangs that work not unlike a hypodermic needle or as with many venomous colubrid snakes that tend to be opisthoglyphous 'rear grooved', or aglyphous 'without grooves'.
Some species of cobra have a special adaptation to their fang groove, which creates openings in the anterior of each fang to allow a spitting behaviour.
