IRANIAN SPIDER-TAILED HORNED VIPER Pseudocerastes urarachnoides ©Discovery Magazine
This is crazy!
This snake, uses camouflage to resemble the local landscape, but here’s the kicker - it has a built-in “spider” lure at the end of it’s tail. It drapes itself around so the lure is close to its face, and attracts birds by realistically waving around the spider. When a bird swoop down to grab the spider, they're eaten by the snake instead.
Check out the video:
Spider Tailed Viper in Action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFjoqyVRmOU
Endemic to western Iran, this shy and secretive snake was only described in 2006. The head looks very similar to that of other Pseudocerastes species in the region and originally scientists thought the tail was an anomaly, or perhaps a tumor, but quickly realized this brilliant adaptation was an elaborate "caudal lure.”
