- Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (/sɜːrˈpɛntiːz/). Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes’ paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule is not universal (see Amphisbaenia, Dibamidae, and Pygopodidae).
- Kent, Washington (Wikipedia)
Kent is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and had a population of 136,588 as of the 2020 census. The population was estimated at 136,588 in 2024, making it the fourth-most populous municipality in greater Seattle and the sixth-most populous in Washington state. The city is connected to Seattle, Bellevue, and Tacoma via State Route 167 in addition to Interstate 5, Sounder commuter rail, and commuter buses.