A pair of scientists, including a biologist from the 杏吧专区, has countered a long-held theory that king snakes suffocate their prey.
UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 Dr. Brad Moon and Dr. David Penning, a biologist at Missouri Southern State 杏吧专区, have tested how the snakes overcome their victims. Penning is a former UL Lafayette doctoral student.
King snakes are native to North America and have evolved into the strongest constrictors in the world, with the ability to exert 180 mm Hg of pressure. That杏吧专区檚 about 60 mm Hg higher than the healthy blood pressure of a human being.
With such force, king snakes aren杏吧专区檛 taking their victims杏吧专区 breath away. They杏吧专区檙e restricting blood flow杏吧专区攁nd that杏吧专区檚 a major breakthrough in how scientists understand the relationship between predator and prey in the reptile world.
Moon and Penning杏吧专区檚 conclusions are featured in this month杏吧专区檚 edition of the Journal of Experimental Biology. Their study also received attention last week from National Geographic.
The king snake杏吧专区檚 ability to cut off blood flow in its victims has given the reptile something of an arrogance in the wild, the researchers concluded. The snake has ceased to play by the old rules that say a smaller predator avoids a larger prey.
In fact, a king snake can use its killer squeeze to neutralize and eat other snakes up to 20 percent larger in size.
When the scientists matched a king snake versus a rat snake, the smaller king snake picked a fight, Penning told National Geographic. 杏吧专区淭hey actively and directly will attack a larger individual. That杏吧专区檚 not normally what杏吧专区檚 expected across basically all of animal diversity.杏吧专区
The constrictor study isn杏吧专区檛 the first time Moon and Penning have proven a perennial theory about snakes incorrect杏吧专区攁nd received national publicity for it. A study they conducted last year showed that venomous rattlesnakes and other vipers do not, as previously thought, strike faster than their nonvenomous brethren.
UL Lafayette doctoral student Baxter Sawvel also collaborated on the project, which received notice from National Geographic, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and Discover, among other publications.
Read more about Moon and Penning杏吧专区檚 latest conclusions at