Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Ophidiophobia (/ ə ˌ f ɪ d i oʊ ˈ f oʊ b i ə /), or ophiophobia (/ ˌ oʊ f i oʊ ˈ f oʊ b i ə /), is fear of snakes. It is sometimes called by the more general term herpetophobia, fear of reptiles. The word comes from the Greek words "ophis" (ὄφις), snake, and "phobia" (φοβία) meaning fear. [1]
Many empirical studies have found evidence for the theory. Primates, including humans, are able to quickly detect snakes. [6] [7] Some studies have found that humans can detect snake images before subjective visual perception. [8] However, the pre-conscious detection of snake stimuli is still under debate by the scientific community. [9]
The anthropologist Lynne Isbell has argued that, as primates, the serpent as a symbol of death is built into our unconscious minds because of our evolutionary history.. Isbell argues that for millions of years snakes were the only significant predators of primates, and that this explains why fear of snakes is one of the most common phobias worldwide and why the symbol of the serpent is so ...
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 15 January 2025. Fear or disgust of objects with repetitive patterns of small holes or protrusions. Not to be confused with Trypanophobia. The holes in lotus seed heads elicit feelings of discomfort or repulsion in some people. Trypophobia is an aversion to the sight of repetitive patterns or clusters of ...
Snakes are a common occurrence in myths for a multitude of cultures. The Hopi people of North America viewed snakes as symbols of healing, transformation, and fertility. Snakes in Mexican folk culture tell about the fear of the snake to the pregnant women where the snake attacks the umbilical cord. [1]
Cultural attitudes to reptiles include a widespread fear, sometimes extending to phobia, especially of snakes; [2] Carl Sagan suggested that the fear may be ancestral, [85] [2] and it is indeed shared by other primates. [2] In the US, 12% of men and 38% of women feared snakes; along with spiders, this is the most common phobia in Western societies.
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
The brown tree snake is a nocturnal and arboreal species that uses both visual and chemical cues when hunting, either in the rainforest canopy or on the ground. [3] It is a member of the subfamily Colubrinae, genus Boiga, which is a group of roughly twenty-five species that are referred to as "cat-eyed" snakes for their vertical pupils. [4]