As the title says, what is the difference/relationship between snakes, serpents, and vipers? Are they subsets? Synonyms? Taxonomy? I’m really dumb so please make it simple.
Bonus point for using ascii arrows
In: Biology
Serpents and snakes are the same thing. Vipers are a poisonous subgroup with hinged fangs. Wikipedia has a lot of answers.
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serpent is identical to snake.
vipers are a subset of snake: rattlesnakes and copperheads, being common north american variety….also adders
“Serpent” is just another, somewhat archaic term for a snake. It may also refer to mythical creatures such as sea serpents.
Vipers are a specific subset of venomous snakes in the family *viperidae* noted for their triangular heads and long, hinged fangs.
Snake is from Germanic origin. Serpent is the same word, but it come from the French after the Norman Invasion. They both mean the same thing in two language, but Serpent was adopted in English. Today, snake specifically mean the animal, while serpent is more of a generic term that could mean the animal, but also more mythological or fantasy creature.
Vipers (or Viperidae) is one of the 30 or so families of snakes. They have long hinged fangs for deep penetration of their venom.
Serpent and snake are synonyms; “snake” is Germanic, “serpent” is Latin. Today “snake” is used in 99% of contexts.
Vipers are one particular family of snakes, the [*viperidae*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viperidae). All vipers are snakes, not all snakes are vipers (e.g. pythons are not vipers).
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