A large, venomous snake found in Africa that can inflate its neck and strike with deadly speed when threatened.
From Afrikaans 'boomslang,' combining 'boom' (tree) and 'slang' (snake), referring to its arboreal habitat. The word entered English in the early 20th century as naturalists documented African wildlife.
The boomslang's venom is so specialized that it causes massive internal bleeding in victims, yet it was completely unknown to science until 1957. It's a perfect example of how Africa's wildlife contains species that remained mysterious until very recently.
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