Harvard Museum of Natural History

The species you just studied were all long, thin, and (mostly!) legless, but they were not all snakes! 

In the following video you’ll learn about the many different characteristics that define snakes and differentiate them from other animals that might look similar.

Pay attention to the features mentioned that are specific to snakes

What characteristics do you think would help you distinguish snakes from other animals that might have similar body types?

What Makes a Snake a Snake?

Do you remember which animals were snakes and which were fakes? Test your knowledge in the Escape Room! Answer questions to reveal letters. Then, unscramble the letters to solve the exit code.

Want to learn more about these animals? Check out the 

Snake or Fake Escape Room

Consider the features you learned about in the video. What features can you use to help you identify snakes? Click on each star to learn more about these features and snake morphology.

Snake Morphology

Snake or Fake? Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Conclusion

Welcome to the Harvard Museum of Natural History

Here are images of the six specimens you will study.

To learn more about each specimen, explore its MCZ database entry by clicking on the links at the bottom of the page under 

MCZ Specimens

Getting to Know Some Herps

In the upcoming activity, you will use the MCZ database to investigate six museum specimens. You will make observations of each specimen. Record your findings on the 

 (provided by your teacher or available as a pdf at the bottom of this page

).  Do the morphological characteristics suggest your specimen is a snake or a fake? Use the last column on the chart to make your determination. 

How to Use the MCZ Database

It's easy to identify a snake, right? They are long, skinny, and have no legs. But it turns out it's not as simple as that! There are many other animals that are also long, skinny, and legless. 

Using the collections database of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, explore museum research specimens and discover which animals are snakes and which are fakes. Along the way, meet Harvard scientists and learn how museum collections continue to be used in new ways.

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Snake or Fake? - Using Natural History Collections to Understand Evolution

What Makes a Snake a Snake?

Guiding Question