This text has been reviewed in keeping with Science X’s editorial course of
and insurance policies.
Editors have highlighted the next attributes whereas making certain the content material’s credibility:
fact-checked
trusted supply
proofread
Okay!
Two coral snakes competing over amphibian prey. Credit score: Henrik Bringsøe and Niels Poul Dreyer
× shut
Two coral snakes competing over amphibian prey. Credit score: Henrik Bringsøe and Niels Poul Dreyer
Two red-tailed coral snakes have been noticed competing over a caecilian within the first documented wild case of kleptoparasitism throughout the household Elapidae.
Kleptoparasitism, or meals theft, is a well-documented habits in lots of animal species, however is seldom reported amongst snakes in pure habitats.
The remark, detailed in a latest research revealed in Herpetozoa by Henrik Bringsøe and Niels Poul Dreyer, showcases the 2 Micrurus mipartitus snakes participating in a tug-of-war over the limbless amphibian.
Elapid snakes are venomous and among the many deadliest serpents on the earth. There are greater than 400 species comprising a really numerous group of snakes comparable to mambas, cobras, kraits, taipans, tiger snakes, dying adders, sea snakes and coral snakes.
Two coral snakes competing over amphibian prey. Credit score: Henrik Bringsøe and Niels Poul Dreyer.
The battle occurred within the dense rainforests of Valle del Cauca, western Colombia. Surprisingly, within the tussle, one snake additionally bit the physique of the opposite. Nevertheless, the researchers recommend this was seemingly unintended.
After 17 minutes of remark, the shedding coral snake launched its chew maintain on the caecilian. The winner then moved away from the shedding snake, which didn’t comply with.
The research means that whereas such behaviors could also be extra frequent in captivity on account of managed environments, their prevalence in nature has been largely underreported, seemingly as a result of elusive nature of those reptiles and the challenges of observing them of their pure habitats.
“Snakes in captivity do that always when just one prey is obtainable in a terrarium with two or extra snakes. However it’s relatively shocking that it has not been noticed extra ceaselessly within the wild,” says lead writer Henrik Bringsøe.
This case sheds gentle on the coral snake interactions with prey species. Caecilians, such because the one on this research, have proven outstanding diversifications comparable to toxin resistance and elevated mucus manufacturing.
Extra data:
Henrik Bringsøe et al, Kleptoparasitism in Micrurus mipartitus (Squamata, Elapidae) competing for a similar Caecilia sp. (Gymnophiona, Caeciliidae) in western Colombia, Herpetozoa (2024). DOI: 10.3897/herpetozoa.37.e112716