Editing Snake (section)

== Distribution ==
[[File:World distribution of snakes.svg|thumb|upright=2.0|Approximate world distribution of snakes]]

There are about 3,900 species of snakes,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Reptile Database |url=http://www.reptile-database.org/ |access-date=March 6, 2021 |website=www.reptile-database.org |archive-date=2 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102083427/http://reptile-database.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ranging as far northward as the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and southward through Australia.<ref name="Sanchez"/> Snakes can be found on every continent except Antarctica, as well as in the sea, and as high as {{convert|16000|ft|m}} in the [[Himalayan Mountains]] of Asia.<ref name="Sanchez"/><ref name="Con91">{{cite book |last1=Conant |first1=Roger |last2=Collins |first2=Joseph |name-list-style=vanc |author-link=Roger Conant (herpetologist) |title=A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians Eastern/Central North America |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Company]] |year=1991 |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-395-58389-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetorept00cona}}</ref>{{Rp|143}} There are numerous islands from which snakes are absent, such as [[Ireland]], [[Iceland]], and [[New Zealand]]<ref name=Bauchot/><ref name="Con91"/> (although New Zealand's northern waters are infrequently visited by the [[Pelamis platura|yellow-bellied sea snake]] and the [[Laticauda colubrina|banded sea krait]]).<ref name="AucklandMuseum">{{cite web |url=http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/349/natural-history-questions |title=Natural History Questions |author1=Natural History Information Centre |author2=Auckland War Memorial Museum |work=Auckland War Memorial Museum {{pipe}} Tamaki Paenga Hira |publisher=[[Auckland War Memorial Museum]] |location=[[Auckland]], New Zealand |at=Q. Are there any snakes in New Zealand? |access-date=April 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712124349/http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/349/natural-history-questions |archive-date=July 12, 2012}}</ref>