[xzins]

That’s what I think, too, but I’m not going to say that section absolutely wasn’t in the original Mark. It makes Mark a bit later date (59-60 AD) than thought since the snake bite was on Paul’s journey for trial in Rome, about 59 AD.

[SkyDancer]

"The last 12 verses of Mark's gospel were added sometime after the original gospel began to circulate, likely to provide a supplement since Mark's account stops so abruptly in Mark 16:8. The reason for the abrupt end of Mark's original account is likely that the final leaf was somehow lost before it began to be copied."

See more at: http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/fischer/120601