How snakes stay skinny
Snakes
can lower their metabolic rates by up to 70 per cent, allowing them to
survive prolonged (longer) periods without food while growing longer
nonetheless, a new study shows. "These animals take energy reduction to
a whole new level," said lead author Marshall McCue, a biology graduate
student at the University of Arkansas.
The research, detailed in the September issue of the journal Zoology,
is an extension of McCue's past studies that revealed biochemical
changes in the western diamondback rattlesnake.
McCue withheld food from 62 snakes belonging to one of three
different species (ratsnake, western
diamondback rattlesnake and ball python) for about six months and
observed their metabolic rates. It is typical for snakes in the wild to
go without food for this long.
He found that snakes reduced their standard metabolic rates, some by
up to 72 per cent. "Snakes already had low energy demands. We didn't
know they could go lower," McCue said.
Despite the lack of food, the snakes continued to grow in length. "To
me, this suggests that there must be a strong selective advantage to
growing longer," McCue said. He added evolution has led to snakes that
are extremely efficient at frugal (thrifty) use of available resources
which come from within their own bodies.
During the first stages of starvation, all the snakes burned up
selected fat stores. The next energy source to go differed among the
snake species. The rats snakes, which live in an environment with
abundant rodent prey, began to break down proteins faster than the
pythons or rattlesnakes.
"The protein use was higher in the snakes less well-adapted to
starvation," McCue said.
Understanding how snakes can succeed in food-scarce environments will
add to the overall picture of snakes' evolution.
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