Dr Bryan Fry, of the University of Melbourne 's Bio21 Institute, who contributed to the new research, says advanced snakes share a common ancestor that had venom glands before fangs developed.

They used high-resolution microCT scans to have a closer look at snake fangs. After examining fangs from 21 snake species and teeth in two lizard species they found a common feature.

Of the almost 4,000 species of snakes, about 600 are considered“medically significant”, meaning they can deliver a bite that would require hospital treatment, but many more have small fangs ...

Venomous fangs first developed as grooves at the base of snakes' teeth. These grooves most likely evolved to keep teeth firmly attached to the jaw, as snake teeth typically have very shallow roots ...

Most snakes do not inject venom into their victims bodies using hollow fangs, contrary to common misconceptions. In fact, there's a groove along the outside of their fangs that venom flows along ...

Credit: Alessandro Palci, from “Plicidentine and the Repeated Origins of Snake Venom Fangs,” by Alessandro Palci, in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Vol. 288; August 11, 2021 ...