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Lip‐curling in redbelly snakes ( Storeria occipitomaculata ): functional morphology and ecological significance
Author(s) -
Amaral José Pedro Sousa
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1999.tb01029.x
Subject(s) - curling , biology , predation , anatomy , zoology , maxilla , morphology (biology) , head (geology) , apex (geometry) , ecology , paleontology , materials science , composite material
Abstract Redbelly snakes Storeria occipitomaculata have a characteristic agonistic display involving conspicuous lip‐curling and head distortion. The lip‐curling and head distortion display is similar to head shape‐changes during feeding. Storeria occipitomaculata produced mouth secretions while displaying. Micrographs of maxillae and observation of changes in head configuration showed that the lip‐curling behaviour of S. occipitomaculata is related to the presence of carina‐bearing maxillary teeth, which are protruded from the mouth during the display. I compared the behaviour and morphology of this species to other gastropod‐eating snakes and suggest that these behavioural and morphological characteristics have a two‐fold role: in prey capture they aid the capture, the handling, and perhaps the digestion of prey; in predator deterrence they may act as delivery agents for mouth secretions.