The prey and predators of Homalopsine snakes

Voris, Harold K.; Murphy, John C.

doi:10.1080/00222930110062642

Cited by 30 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…These results show that a blindsnake I. braminus breaks apart its prey unlike most other snake species. Prey-breaking behavior prior to ingestion has been reported from three snake families so far, Colubridae (Shine & Schwaner, 1985;Jayne et al, 2002;Voris & Murphy, 2002), Leptotyphlopidae (Smith, 1957;Reid & Lott, 1963) and Typhlopidae (the present study). Because the phylogenetic relationship between the crab-eating snakes (Colubridae) and the blindsnakes (Leptotyphlopidae and Typhlopidae) is considerably distant [their common ancestor lived over 100 million years ago (Vidal et al, 2009)], it is almost certain that the tearing behavior evolved independently in these two snake lineages.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

A blindsnake that decapitates its termite prey

Mizuno

Kojima

2015

Journal of Zoology

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Almost all snakes swallow their prey whole. However, a few species are known as exceptions. Two species of Asian crab‐eating snakes tear off crab legs and ingest them one at a time to eat prey that is otherwise too large. Two species of leptotyphlopid blindsnakes break off the head of termites or suck abdominal contents of termites, discarding remains of termites. Here, we show that a typhlopid blindsnake Indotyphlops braminus decapitates its termite prey and consumes only the thorax and abdomen. In our feeding trials, I. braminus decapitated a median of 47% of termites they eat, while swallowing the remaining termites whole. Decapitation did not affect ingestion speed, and therefore, it is unlikely that decapitation assists for fast ingestion. Ingested termite heads often remain undigested in the feces, implying that the decapitation functions to remove an indigestible part of termites. Decapitation might also be related to circumvention of chemical defenses of termites because termite heads often contain toxic compounds. These observations showed unusual feeding behavior used by a basal snake, which could be associated with removal of indigestible and/or toxic parts of prey items.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

A blindsnake that decapitates its termite prey

Mizuno

Kojima

2015

Journal of Zoology

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“…Here, we explore whether head shape is related to diet, habitat use, burrow use, and activity pattern in a group of semi‐aquatic snakes containing several dietary specialists: homalopsid snakes. Some homalopsid snakes have evolved a rather unique prey reduction behaviour allowing them to overcome gape limitations (Savitzky, ; Shine & Schwaner, ; Jayne, Voris & Ng, ; Voris & Murphy, ). Indeed, crustacean specialists such as Gerarda prevostiana are known to exploit recently molted soft‐shelled crabs as prey from which they tear bite‐sized pieces before swallowing (Jayne et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conversely, fish specialists are predicted to have more narrow and elongated heads associated with the capture of prey under water. Although fish can also be large and bulky, most snakes that feed underwater typically eat more elongated and narrow prey, possibly due to the constraints imposed on head shape by underwater prey capture (Voris & Voris, ; Voris & Murphy, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of diet, habitat use, and behaviour on head shape evolution in homalopsid snakes

Fabre

Bickford

Segall

et al. 2016

Biol. J. Linn. Soc.

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An organism's morphology is driven by selection on function while being constrained by phylogenetic and developmental factors as well as functional trade-offs. If selection on function is strong and solutions limited, then convergence is expected. In this paper we quantify head shape in a group of ecologically diverse snakes (homalopsid snakes) differing in habitat use and diet using three-dimensional geometric morphometric approaches. Using data on head shape we explore whether snakes eating different prey show different morphologies. Moreover, we test whether head shape is constrained by other factors such as habitat use, burrow use, or activity pattern. Our results demonstrate similar head shapes in species consuming similar prey. Snakes that capture elusive prey under water differ from those that capture and swallow prey like frogs or crustaceans. Moreover, habitat use, the use of burrows, and activity pattern also significantly impact head shape in this group of snakes. However, this signal appears to be partly confounded by the diet signal. For axes discriminating specifically between habitat use groups or animals that use burrows vs. those that do not shapes were in accordance with our predictions. Our results suggests an adaptive signal in the evolution of head shape in homalopsid snakes with diet, habitat use and the use of burrows all influencing the evolution of head shape in the group.

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“…Most homalopsines eat fish, frogs and tadpoles, but feeding on crustaceans is well documented in three of the coastal marine species (Jayne et al. , 2002; Voris & Murphy, 2002). Overall, the homalopsines exhibit considerable morphological and ecological diversity for a small ophidian clade.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It feeds on a wide variety of fish including eight families and 15 genera (Jayne et al. , 1988), and has also been reported to eat crustaceans, tadpoles and frogs (Voris & Murphy, 2002). It is the only homalopsine species in which a salt gland (premaxillary and rudimentary compared with other marine reptiles) has been documented (Dunson & Dunson, 1979).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogeny of Cerberus (Serpentes: Homalopsinae) and phylogeography of Cerberus rynchops: diversification of a coastal marine snake in Southeast Asia

Alfaro

Karns

Voris

et al. 2004

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim The biogeography of Southeast Asia has been greatly affected by plate tectonic events over the last 10 Myr and changing sea levels during the Quaternary. We investigated how these events may have influenced the evolution of Cerberus Cuvier, a marine coastal snake belonging to the Homalopsinae (Oriental-Australian Rear-fanged Water Snakes). This study is an expansion of a previous study on the biogeography and systematics of Cerberus.Location We obtained species from localities across the range of the widely distributed Cerberus: India, Sri Lanka, the Andaman islands, Myanmar, the Philippines, Borneo, Suluwesi, Sumatra, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Australia.Methods We analysed mtDNA sequences (12S, ND3, ATPase, 2338 nucleotide characters) from 21 localities. The sample consisted of 65 Cerberus rynchops (Schneider), three Cerberus australis (Gray) and four Cerberus microlepis Boulenger. One Homalopsis buccata (Linnaeus), one Bitia hydroides Gray, one Enhydris enhydris (Schneider), and two Enhydris plumbea (Boie) were used as outgroups. ResultsWe produced phylogenetic trees based on parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analysis. We did not find unambiguous support for the monophly of Cerberus. Cerberus austalis, H. buccata and all other Cerberus populations formed a three-way basal polytomy under parsimony and C. australis formed the sister group to a clade consisting of H. buccata and all other Cerberus in likelihood and Bayesian analysis. The non-Australian Cerberus were monophyletic and consisted of four primary biogeographical clades: Indian and Mayanmar, Philippines, Greater Sunda Islands and Suluwesi, and the Thai-Malay peninsula and Gulf of Thailand. The range of genetic divergence between these clades and Australian Cerberus was 0.06-0.12. Genetic divergence among clades to the west of Australia was less pronounced (Thai-Malay peninsula and Gulf of Thailand ¼ 0.02-0.05; Sunda Islands and Suluwesi ¼ 0.02-0.05; Philippines ¼ 0.02-0.06; India and Myanmar ¼ 0.04-0.06, Philippines ¼ 0.02-0.5).

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The prey and predators of Homalopsine snakes

Cited by 30 publications

References 13 publications

A blindsnake that decapitates its termite prey

A blindsnake that decapitates its termite prey

The impact of diet, habitat use, and behaviour on head shape evolution in homalopsid snakes

Phylogeny of Cerberus (Serpentes: Homalopsinae) and phylogeography of Cerberus rynchops: diversification of a coastal marine snake in Southeast Asia

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