The snake in this design is an eyelash pitviper (Bothriechis schlegelii), one of my favorite species.  They live in rainforests of Central & South America and come in a variety of colors, two of which are depicted in this pattern.  They are venomous (which not all snakes are) and they find prey using a different kind of eye (called a “pit”) that allows them to see infrared (heat).

 The plant is one of a hundred or so Heliconia species also found in American rainforests.  The modified, colorful leaves (called “bracts”) hide their flowers inside, where they are pollinated by the long beaks of hummingbirds.

The snake in this design is a rhinoceros viper (Bitis nasicornis), another one of my favorite species.  They live in forests of the African interior and are close kin to the gaboon viper, which has the longest fangs relative to it's body size of any snake in the world.  This brightly colored species is highly venomous (which not all snakes are) and they spend most of their time sitting motionless waiting for prey to wander by and then strike from ambush.  Their tail is somewhat prehensile to aid in climbing and, like our own copperhead, they can double back on their body and strike upward at someone holding their tail.  Unlike the American pitvipers, old world vipers do not have 'pit organs' that detect the body heat of their prey.  All that said, rhinoceros vipers are mellow in disposition and strike at humans only when they feel threatened. 

This beautiful fellow is a black-tailed rattlesnake, Crotalus molossus.  Naturally, they are not found in turquoise and coral in the wild, let alone with wings, but when I was working on this design, my friend and creative consultant, Beth, commented that it looked like a blanket design from the SouthWest.  So, I made the fanciful winged version in brighter colors.  The naturally colored, wingless version is the "yellow" phase of the species.  They also come in a "gray" phase.  The species is found in southern Arizona and New Mexico, southwestern Texas, and down into Mexico.  They can grow to be close to 4 feet long and are venomous pitvipers. 

I donated the model for this design to the Kansas Herpetological Society’s 2017 auction.  These are frogs of the genus Mantella and are found in the jungles of Madagascar.  They are less than 2 inches in length, brightly colored, and poisonous.  Like new world poison dart frogs, they get the alkaloid toxins in their skins from the food they eat.  Mostly Mantellas feed on ants, termites, and other insects (who probably get their toxins from the plants they eat).  The species in this design are Mantella expectata, M. madagascariensis, M. viridis, M. crocea, M. baroni, M. cowanii, and the bright yellow M. aurantiaca.  

The satanic leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus) looks much like a dragon in miniature.  But, their coloration and somewhat flattened shape lets them hide amongst the leaves of their Madagascar jungle home.  They are pretty small, only growing to a total length of about 90mm (3.5 inches).  They are nocturnal and have pupils that close down to points rather than slits in bright light.  Like most lizards, these geckos feed on small insects.  The Uroplatus genus is full of odd looking geckos with extreme camouflage abilities.  

Here we have an eastern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), one of the species of venomous snakes in Kansas.  They live in heavily wooded areas around rocky outcrops where their lovely colors blend perfectly with the fallen leaves. Copperheads are not large snakes, growing to only a few feet.  Like most snake venoms, copperhead venom contains multiple complex proteins.  One of these proteins is called contortrostatin, and may be used soon in the treatment of cancer.  Contortrostatin blocks the spread of cancer cells from a tumor to other parts of the body.