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Hydrophiinae: Adapted to marine life and swimming by having a tail fin and laterally compressed bodies. Salt glands surrounding the tongue help maintain osmotic balance in sea water. The palatine bones lack choanal processes. Laticauda is the least adapted to sea life; it retains the wide ventral scales typical of terrestrial snakes and has only a poorly developed tail fin. Ventral scales are much reduced in Hydrophis and allies. The nostrils of snakes in the Hydrophis group are dorsally located and can be closed with valves. |
