A sure way around the problem of subduing live flesh is to catch it young enough. The two – foot African snake Dasypellis scaber, shown here, has carried this solution to the ultimate point of eating nothing but birds’eggs, and has become marvelously specialized for this task. Its teeth have dwindled to nubbinds, which are useful only for gripping a smooth egg. Its jaws are loosely connected to its skull by two swiveling bones, which can be dropped down to give Dasypeltis the stretchiest mouth of any snake. In its throat are sharp projuctions sticking down from the backbone and used to rip open eggshells.
0 comments:
Post a Comment