Snake grows a fake spider on its tail to lure birds; scans reveal surprisingly normal bones inside

Spider-tailed horned viper (Image Credit: Omid Mozaffari) The natural world is full of animals that use mimicry to survive, but few examples are as unusual as the spider-tailed horned viper. Native to Iran, this elusive snake has evolved a remarkable tail tip that resembles a spider, complete with a bulbous body and dangling, leg-like structures. The snake moves the strange appendage in a way that can attract birds close enough for it to strike. What looks like an elaborate spider from the outside, however, hides a much more ordinary structure inside. According to the Field Museum, scientists have now used X-ray computed tomography, or XCT, to examine the interior of the snake's unusual tail without damaging a scientifically important museum specimen. Their findings, published in The Anatomical Record, revealed that despite the extraordinary appearance of the tail, the vertebrae inside are surprisingly typical of vipers.A tail that looks like a spiderThe snake, scientifically known as Pseudocerastes urarachnoides, was formally described as a new species in 2006. Its common name, the spider-tailed horned viper, refers to the remarkable structure at the end of its tail. The appendage...