When was the last time you saw a snake that had 2 legs ?

Maybe snakes used to have legs many thousand years ago, but then evolved slowly to be able
to do just fine without legs. Like man evolved from the apes and learned to put his hands to better & productive use - like opening a beer can, for instance.

Coming back to snakes, this snake was spotted in Kerala & as is man's normal instinct since
the time Adam and Eve ate themseleves out of home and hearth after listening to a snake,
the locals gatherered and promptly killed it. Unless the person in question happens to be someone from the NatGeo or AnimalPlanet channels, in which case he will sneak behind the snake, lift it by the tail and inspect the legs closely or maybe even give it a kiss.


Courtesy : The Hindu newspaper.
Note : Sorry about the picture quality - this was the only one I could find via Google.

It did not strike the locals that it is kinda unique for a snake to have legs & that they could
mint money by forming a touring company where they could display the snake to the public
and charge them money to get a short glimpse of such a unique specimen. And if that did not work, they could always make much more money by floating an IPO and getting money from
the gullible public that thinks stocks are an easy way to get rich.

Anyway, some herpetologists get wind of this snake and promptly troop to the place to have
a look. Even while on their way to the place, the researchers are in dream mode - mentally churning out the words to the research paper they would submit and how famous they would become after that, the global recognition that would follow etc etc.

After asking around, they get to the place where the snake had been thrown after it was killed. They promptly pick it up and take it to their lab. They decide to subject it to an X-ray to study the formation of limbs.

But, on the dissection table, they noticed a change of texture at the point where the limbs originated from the body. Also, while touching the legs with the forceps, something began
bulging inside the body of the snake. So they dissected the snake to unearth the mystery.

And guess what ? The body of a frog fell out, taking along with it the mystery legs. Turns out
the snake had swallowed the frog just before it was killed. In its struggle to escape, the live
frog might have prised open the snake's belly with its claws, before itself succumbing to exhaustion and death. And so, with the frog's legs sticking out, the snake created an impression that it had 2 legs.

Ha, must have been such an anti-climax to the global recognition dreams of the scientists. Anyway, to quote them, "Our hopes of a great find were dashed but we are happy that we
could provide an explanation for something that could have remained a mystery for ages,”
says Dr. Oommen".

Wait a minute. Did you just say, "mystery for ages" ? Well, I have not dissected snakes,
though I have dissected many frogs, cockroaches and earthworms in school as part of
academic requirements. But even without that experience, I am sure anyone could have unearthed this "mystery" without needing specialised scientists.