Tiny African Snake Outperforms Pythons in Consuming Larger Prey, Study Finds

Contrary to expectations, a diminutive African snake, Dasypeltis gansi, not pythons, emerges as the winner in an eating contest, impressively consuming larger prey relative to its size.

Despite their small scale, these unassuming snakes prove remarkably formidable when their size is considered, challenging the conventional focus on large snakes and big meals.

Gans' Egg-Eating Snakes Can Consume Prey Larger Than Them

In the study, titled "Scaling relationships of maximal gape and prey size of snakes for an egg‐eating specialist (Dasypeltis gansi) and a dietary generalist (Pantherophis obsoletus)" published in the Journal of Zoology, researchers report that Gans' egg-eating snakes can outperform pythons in terms of eating larger preys.

The Gans' egg-eater uses the elastic skin of its lower jawbones to showcase its unique capability to ingest eggs that are larger than its head. Biologist Bruce Jayne highlights that this species can consume prey three to four times larger than generalist snakes like the black rat snake.

Consuming eggs whole, the snake contorts its spine to crack the shell, extracting the contents and later regurgitating the empty fragments.

But still, Burmese pythons are recognized for consuming substantial meals, including deer and alligators. As per Jayne's prior research, fully grown pythons can ingest deer weighing over 70 pounds and alligators weighing 100 pounds or more.

Nonetheless, the small egg eater can devour prey with a cross-sectional area over twice that of a Burmese python of a similar-weight Burmese python.

Effective Survival Strategy

The remarkable ability of the egg eater snake can be seen as an effective strategy for survival. The majority of bird eggs possess a near-spherical shape, resembling a Ping-Pong ball, whereas birds, mice, and rats exhibit elongated forms, rendering them higher in calorie content compared to eggs with equivalent circumferences.

However, the Gans' egg-eater compensates for this by having the capacity to ingest considerably larger eggs relative to its size. The research suggests that one plausible reason for the evolution of this extraordinary jaw gape in African egg-eating snakes is their specialization in hunting prey characterized by a moderate mass-to-cross-sectional area ratio.

As a specialist, the snake has developed a soft mouth with minimal teeth, likely to facilitate handling smooth-shelled eggs. In terms of defense mechanisms, these harmless snakes mimic venomous saw-scaled vipers, employing hissing, scale-rubbing sounds, head flattening, and striking gestures, despite being toothless.

Interestingly, these harmless snakes have devised a defense mechanism by imitating venomous saw-scaled vipers. Jayne elaborates that they create an impressive display, generating a hissing sound through scale friction, flattening their heads, and simulating striking behavior.

This behavior, however, serves as mere bluster, as these toothless creatures, amusingly referred to as "toothless wonders" by Jayne, lack the capability to back their intimidating actions with venomous attacks.