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The underappreciated extent of cannibalism and ophiophagy in African cobras
Author(s) -
Maritz Bryan,
Alexander Graham J.,
Maritz Robin A.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1002/ecy.2522
Subject(s) - cannibalism , ecology , biology , larva
It is incredibly challenging to study the natural feeding habits of snakes. Snakes are themselves secretive and rarely observed in the wild, and they feed relatively infrequently, making observations of feeding scarce. As a result, scientific understanding of snake dietary ecology (beyond simple prey lists) remains remarkably superficial outside of a few species. In this context, our own research sets out to understand how feeding and competition for spatially- and temporally-patchy resources drives interspecific competition between two species of African snakes and how those processes might change in the future. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.