Why are people afraid of snakes?

Snakes are one of the most common fears of humankind, while many of us have never seen snakes before. A new study suggests that people have innate talent to recognize snakes and fear them. This ability is born to help people survive in nature.

The group conducted research on adults and children. They found that both groups discovered images of snakes in a variety of other objects much faster than when they discovered frogs, flowers or butterflies.

"Throughout evolutionary history, people have learned to fear snakes, which is an advantage to help them survive and reproduce," said Vanessa LoBue, at the University of Virginia, USA. "In order to be able to detect fast snakes, humans have also developed larger brains and faster vision. This ability can be passed on through generations."

According to LoBue, in the past, snake must have appeared everywhere and people see them every day. That's why we are only obsessed with snakes and not so strong a fear of tigers and lions.