Question

Which of the following snakes has vestiges of hind limbs?
(A) Hydrophis
(B) Python
(C) Eryx
(D) Viper

Answer 1

Hint: The vestigial organs are the organs that once had a proper function to perform and gradually lost its functioning ability in course of evolution vestigial hind limbs are used to play a role in locomotion in some snakes.

Complete answer:
(A) Hydrophis is a highly venomous sea snake which is mostly found in indo Australian and southeast Asian waters. These snakes do not have vestiges of hind limbs. It is the wrong option.
(B) Python are the non-venomous snakes which have vestigial hind limb buds. Pythons retained very small vestigial legs, which is a trait passed from generation to generation. These organs were functional in their ancestral time but now they have completely lost their function and retained it as an evolutionary relationship. So this is the correct option.
(C) Eryx is a snake genus that is also called the two-headed snake.it is a non-venomous snake mostly found in Asian continental parts. The head is not distinct from the neck, the head covered with small scales, and the body is covered with large scales and it does not have any hind limbs.
(D) There are over 200 species of viper snakes which belong to the family Viperidae. These snakes have highly developed mouthparts and these are highly venomous snakes. These do not have any vestigial hind limbs.

The correct option is (B) Python.

Note: Since python swallows the whole organism which makes it hard for locomotion, so the hind limbs were developed in its ancestors, and later in course of evolution the hind limbs gradually lost its function and became the vestigial hind limbs.
Hydrophis has a flattened body with a short oar like tail, valvular nostrils, and elongated lungs which extends through their entire length of the body .The scales are small and do not overlap each other.