The brahminy blind snake ( Indotyphlops braminus ), also known as the flowerpot snake, is a non-venomous snake species found in Africa and Asia but has been introduced to many other parts of the world. These snakes are fossorial reptiles that live underground, with habits and appearance similar to earthworms, for which they are often mistaken. They are also the smallest known snake species. This article delves into the intriguing dietary habits and feeding behaviors of this elusive creature.
General Information about the Brahminy Blind Snake
Adults of I. braminus measure 2-4 inches (5.1-10.2 cm) long, uncommonly to 6 inches (15 cm), making it the smallest known snake species. The head and tail are superficially similar as the head and neck are indistinct. Unlike other snakes, the head scales resemble the body scales. The eyes are barely discernible as small dots under the head scales. The tip of the tail has a small, pointed spur. Along the body are fourteen rows of dorsal scales. Coloration ranges from charcoal gray, silver-gray, light yellow-beige, purplish, or infrequently albino, the ventral surface more pale. Coloration of the juvenile form is similar to that of the adult. The tiny eyes are covered with translucent scales, rendering this snake almost entirely blind.
Distribution and Habitat
Most likely originally native to Africa and Asia. The vertical distribution is from sea level to 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) in Sri Lanka and up to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) in Guatemala. In Africa, I. braminus has been reported in Uganda, DRC, Egypt, Kenya, Senegal, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa (an isolated colony in Cape Town and Natal Midlands; about eight have been found in Lephalale, Limpopo Province at the Medupi Power Station during construction), Madagascar (Nossi Be),[3] the Comoro Islands, Mauritius, the Mascarene Islands and the Seychelles. In Australia, I. In the Americas, it occurs in the United States (California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Arizona, Hawaii and Texas), western and southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Colombia, Barbados and on the Cayman Islands, as well as the Turks and Caicos Islands. Usually, the brahminy blind snake occurs in urban and agricultural areas. This species of snake lives underground in ant and termite nests. It is also found under logs, moist leaves, stones and humus in wet forest, dry jungle, abandoned buildings, and even city gardens.
Diet of the Brahminy Blind Snake
The diet of I. braminus consists mainly of ant larvae, insect larvae, eggs, and sometimes earthworms. They are carnivores and are known to be social, with several individuals sometimes hiding together under rocks or logs.
Feeding Habits
Brahminy blind snakes are fossorial reptiles, spending most of their lives underground. They are active both during the day and at night, but are mostly nocturnal. When exposed above ground, they quickly seek the cover of soil or leaf litter to avoid light.
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The Decapitation Behavior
Recently, scientists have documented a unique feeding behavior in brahminy blind snakes: the decapitation of their prey. While most snakes swallow their food whole, brahminy blind snakes sometimes remove the heads of termites before consuming them.
Discovery of the Behavior
Herpetologist Yosuke Kojima and entomologist Takafumi Mizuno discovered this behavior while studying interactions between blindsnakes and their primary prey, ants. They observed that the blindsnakes typically grabbed and swallowed termites backwards. When the snake had maneuvered a termite so that only its head stuck out of the snake's mouth, it would rub its face on the bottom of the tank, decapitating the termite.
Frequency and Mechanics of Decapitation
All of the termite soldiers and about half of the termite workers offered to the blindsnakes were decapitated. Occasionally, a snake would regurgitate a termite that it had consumed whole, decapitate it, and re-consume the body. The snakes never ate the decapitated heads. Whether a snake decapitated a termite or not, the time required to completely ingest it was about 3 seconds. However, twice blindsnakes were observed swallowing termites head-first, which took only about 1-1.5 seconds.
Reasons for Decapitation
Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain why blindsnakes remove the heads of their prey.
- Toxins in Termite Heads: One reason might be that termite heads contain glands full of toxic chemicals called terpenes. However, blindsnakes don't always remove the heads of their prey, suggesting that they aren't that susceptible to terpene poisoning.
- Digestibility: A more likely hypothesis is that the heads are less digestible than the termites' bodies. Between 26 and 100% of the termite heads consumed by blindsnakes remained undigested in the snakes' feces. Removing the termites' scleritized heads might allow blindsnakes to pack more soft, squishy bodies into their stomachs, maximizing the nutrition they get out of their meals.
Jaw Morphology and Decapitation
Typhlopid blindsnakes can move the left and right sides of their highly mobile upper jaws independently and asynchronously. However, the ratcheting movements of their maxillary raking mechanism are insufficient, by themselves, to allow them to decapitate their prey. Further functional-morphological studies are needed to assess the role of the toothless lower jaw, which could act as a wedge or blade, in this process.
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Other Snakes with Similar Feeding Behaviors
Besides the brahminy blindsnake, a few other snake species have been observed dismembering their prey. Two species of Asian crab-eating snakes (Gerarda prevostiana and Fordonia leucobalia) tear the crustaceans' legs off one by one because their mouths are too small for their hard-shelled meals. Two different species of leptotyphlopids (Epictia goudotii and Rena dulcis) have also been documented exhibiting similar decapitation behaviors.
- Epictia phenops reportedly sucks out the insides of termites after decapitating them, leaving the skins and heads behind.
- Rena dulcis was documented performing a similar rub-removal of termite heads back in 1963.
The authors of the study on brahminy blindsnakes think that the behavior may be more common than previously realized, as it's easy to miss and the blindsnakes are understudied as a whole.
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