Snakes in the Year of the Snake | A land of women among snakes? Like hot springs? These snakes actually have special skills

In the Late Jurassic more than 100 million years ago, the dawn snake ( Eophis ) appeared in the world, which is one of the earliest snakes. In the Cretaceous period about 100 million years ago, fossils of snakes without legs appeared in the strata. This animal, which originated from a four-legged lizard, escaped the mass extinction that killed the non-avian dinosaurs and has survived to this day.

Restoration of the dawn snake, source: science official website

Today, they still roam quietly in every corner of the world, from the cold edge of the Arctic to the scorching tropical rainforest, from the hidden corners of bustling cities to the uninhabited deep mountains and forests. Snakes are writing their own legendary chapters with their unique survival wisdom and wonderful adaptability.

Today, let’s take a look at several snakes that have their own “super powers”!

01

The "Kingdom of Daughters" in a flowerpot

The Kingdom of Daughters in the story of Journey to the West is well-known. In reality, snakes also have their own "Kingdom of Daughters", that is, the hook-necked blind snake ( Indotyphlops braminus ), which has only females but no males.

They give birth to their babies through parthenogenesis and can reproduce several times a year. Each time, they only lay 2-8 eggs. When they are born, the baby snakes are about 5 cm, which is one-third of their mother's body length.

Hooked blind snake, image source wikipoint.blog

(It’s actually kind of cute?!)

The hook-necked blind snake can be seen in many southern provinces of China, and is found in Southeast Asian and South Asian countries abroad.

Interestingly, because they are small enough to fit in flower pots, they have spread along with the soil in the flower pots carried by humans to places outside their native distribution areas such as the United States, such as sub-Saharan Africa, Japan, and some areas of Oceania. In the United States, they are even called Hawaiian blind snakes.

The body of the hook-shaped blind snake is similar to that of an earthworm, but it has small scales on its body. Its food is various termites and ants. For the hook-shaped blind snake, living in caves is already a common thing. Their eyesight has degenerated in the dark caves, and their round and blunt heads are also suitable for digging . When encountering an enemy, they will choose to flee after emitting a foul smell to protect themselves, and welcome the protection of the earth.

Small blind snake

Blind snake eating

Note: Some snakes are different from the blind snake. They usually reproduce sexually, but sometimes they can reproduce parthenogenetically, such as the red-tailed boa constrictor. In addition, some fish, lizards such as the Komodo dragon, and turkeys among birds also have this phenomenon.

02

A national treasure of the plateau who loves hot springs

There is another nationally protected animal in the snake family that likes to soak in hot springs, that is the hot spring snake ( Thermophis ). They live in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its surrounding areas and belong to another family in the snake family, the Colubridae.

There are three types of hot spring snakes: Sichuan Hot Spring Snake, Shangri-La Hot Spring Snake and Sichuan Hot Spring Snake. They are all national first-class protected animals.

Hot spring snake specimen in Shanghai Natural History Museum, photographed by the author

Hot spring snakes are small, usually less than one meter long. But they have a unique skill, which is that they can survive on a plateau at an altitude of 4,000 meters. Hot springs with high altitude and lack of oxygen are their favorite places.

They warm themselves up in hot places near hot springs, then enter cold water to prey on fish, frogs, etc. for food.

Hot spring snake is hunting

Source: "Diet and feeding behavior of the Tibetan hot spring snake, a species endemic to China"

In order to adapt to the lack of oxygen and ultraviolet radiation on the plateau, hot spring snakes have a different FEN1 gene from low-altitude snakes to resist ultraviolet radiation. Their mutated EPAS1 gene is also different from that of low-altitude snakes, which can better adapt to the high-altitude and hypoxic environment. The genes related to temperature perception in hot spring snakes have also become special, allowing them to better find hot springs in cold environments.

Hot spring snake, source: naturepl.com

03

The giant snake that brought the "Anaconda disaster"

If you were to ask what is the largest snake in China? The answer is the Burmese python ( Python bivittatus ), the official Chinese name for this snake is "python". However, among all the snakes in the world, they are not the first.

The Burmese python is 3-5 meters long and weighs dozens of kilograms. A Burmese python named "Bao Bao" kept in the zoo weighs more than 180 kilograms and is more than 5.7 meters long.

Of course, there are also small ones among them. On some islands in Indonesia, the Burmese python is only more than two meters long, which is related to the lack of food in the local island ecosystem.

Burmese python, photographed at Zhengzhou Zoo

In China, they are a national second-class protected animal and can be seen in many provinces from Fujian to Hainan and Yunnan. In addition, they are also distributed in Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and other countries. The threat level in the wild is Vulnerable (VU) level, and the endangered level is not very high.

Burmese pythons are also often kept in captivity and are fairly common in zoos in China.

According to a paper published in Scientific Reports last year, researchers used Burmese pythons from farms in Thailand and other places as experimental materials and found that Burmese pythons grow faster and do not need to be fed frequently. The experimental results showed that for every 4.1 grams of food fed to a Burmese python, its weight increased by 1 gram . Based on this research result, some people have suggested that Burmese python meat may become an emerging option for future animal husbandry, and may even become a potential source of modern agricultural reserve grain.

Burmese pythons raised in Beijing Wildlife Park, photographed by the author

Albino Burmese python lacks black pigment in its body

However, the yellow pigment in reptiles is still retained, which is the result of human selection.

Photo taken at Tianjin Zoo

The Burmese python is a native species that needs attention in China, Thailand and other countries, but it has become a public nuisance in the southern United States.

Some Burmese pythons that escaped into the wild after being abandoned by their owners enjoy a humid and warm climate similar to that of their home in Asia, preying on local native animals of all sizes, even juvenile American alligators, North American raccoons ( Procyon lotor ) in cities and farms, and the white-tailed deer that was the prototype of Bambi.

Based on local survey reports, Burmese pythons also often eat local cottontail rabbits ( Sylvilagus ), and they even bring other Asian parasites to native snakes, threatening the lives of native snakes.

Burmese python caught, source: cbsnews.com

This is not a solution. Faced with the python plague in Florida, some people have begun monitoring and capturing Burmese pythons, while others have begun paying attention to which native species in Florida can control them.

In field observations, adult American alligators use their large mouths to prey on these invasive species. Local bobcats ( Lynx rufus ) can also prey on python eggs or young Burmese pythons. Thus, these species and local people have begun the process of fighting against the "big snakes".

Bobcat prepares to eat python eggs, source: nationalgeographic.com

During the five to seven years it takes to reach adulthood, the Burmese python consumes a wide variety of prey in the southern United States.

This includes birds like the little blue heron, squirrels, opossums and raccoons.

They will also prey on young American alligators.

Image source: sfwmd.gov

American alligators fight back. Image source: usatoday.com

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Author: Daqing Shenlong, student member of Shanghai Science Writers Association

Editor: Dong Xiaoxian

Reviewer: Zhang Chao, Li Peiyuan