Snake can stab sideways with its fangs

Researchers have discovered a new species of snake that can stab sideways with its fangs.

An international team of scientists has found three specimen of the animal - called in West Africa Atractaspis branchi - which using its unique skull anatomy to deliver venom with an unusual stabbing motion.

As revealing in a study published in the Zoosystematics journal, the serpent - which belongs to the Atractaspidinae family of snakes - has fangs sticking out of the sides of its mouth.

While the venom isn't usually powerful enough to kill a human, it can still cause a lot of damage, and the snakes can't be held in the usual way - fingers behind the head - because the animal is even able to stab while their mouths are shut with independently protruding fangs.

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