Snake skin. Close-up of the skin of the snake Chironius monticola, a venomous colubrid snake. Overlapping green scales serve as a protective skin which camouflages the snake in vegetation, and may assist it in movement. This specimen of Chironius monticola was found in cloudforest, a type of rainforest which grows at high altitudes (here at 1,500 metres) where temperatures are low, and rising winds bring near continuous precipitation or mists throughout the year. Photographed in western Ecuador.