Dataset Information

Asymmetry of mandibular dentition is associated with dietary specialization in snail-eating snakes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In vertebrates, the left-and-right pairs of homologous organs are generally present in equal numbers. A remarkable exception is snail-eating snakes in the family Pareidae: almost all the pareid snakes have much more teeth on the right mandible than on the left for functional specialization in feeding on the dextral majority of land snails. Because the only exceptional species with symmetric dentition has been regarded as a slug-eater, the extent of dietary specialization on slugs could shape the degree of the lateral asymmetry of mandibular dentition (dentition asymmetry) even among snail eaters.

Methods

To test this, I compared the morphology and behavior of two sympatric species of Taiwanese snail-eating snakes, Pareas atayal and P. formosensis.

Results

Specimens collected in the same locality showed that the dentition asymmetry of P. formosensis was significantly smaller than that of P. atayal. Congruent to its weak asymmetry, P. formosensis showed a strong preference of slugs to snails in the feeding experiment.

Discussion

The dietary specialization of P. formosensis on slugs would contribute to niche partitioning from the sympatric congener P. atayal. This study suggests that the diverse variation in the dentition asymmetry of pareid snakes is the result of their dietary specialization and divergence.

SUBMITTER: Hoso M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5337109 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Asymmetry of mandibular dentition is associated with dietary specialization in snail-eating snakes.

Hoso Masaki M

PeerJ 20170302

<h4>Background</h4>In vertebrates, the left-and-right pairs of homologous organs are generally present in equal numbers. A remarkable exception is snail-eating snakes in the family Pareidae: almost all the pareid snakes have much more teeth on the right mandible than on the left for functional specialization in feeding on the dextral majority of land snails. Because the only exceptional species with symmetric dentition has been regarded as a slug-eater, the extent of dietary specialization on sl ...[more]

PMID: 28265502

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundEfficient venom delivery systems are known to occur only in varanoid lizards and advanced colubroidean snakes among squamate reptiles. Although components of these venomous systems might have been present in a common ancestor, the two lineages independently evolved strikingly different venom gland systems. In snakes, venom is produced exclusively by serous glands in the upper jaw. Within the colubroidean radiation, lower jaw seromucous infralabial glands are known only in two distinct lineages-the basal pareatids and the more advanced Neotropical dipsadines known as "goo-eating snakes". Goo-eaters are a highly diversified, ecologically specialized clade that feeds exclusively on invertebrates (e.g., gastropod molluscs and annelids). Their evolutionary success has been attributed to their peculiar feeding strategies, which remain surprisingly poorly understood. More specifically, it has long been thought that the more derived Dipsadini genera Dipsas and Sibynomorphus use glandular toxins secreted by their infralabial glands to extract snails from their shells.ResultsHere, we report the presence in the tribe Dipsadini of a novel lower jaw protein-secreting delivery system effected by a gland that is not functionally related to adjacent teeth, but rather opens loosely on the oral epithelium near the tip of the mandible, suggesting that its secretion is not injected into the prey as a form of envenomation but rather helps control the mucus and assists in the ingestion of their highly viscous preys. A similar protein-secreting system is also present in the goo-eating genus Geophis and may share the same adaptive purpose as that hypothesized for Dipsadini. Our phylogenetic hypothesis suggests that the acquisition of a seromucous infralabial gland represents a uniquely derived trait of the goo-eating clade that evolved independently twice within the group as a functionally complex protein-secreting delivery system.ConclusionsThe acquisition by snail-eating snakes of such a complex protein-secreting system suggests that the secretion from the hypertrophied infralabial glands of goo-eating snakes may have a fundamental role in mucus control and prey transport rather than envenomation of prey. Evolution of a functional secretory system that combines a solution for mucus control and transport of viscous preys is here thought to underlie the successful radiation of goo-eating snakes.

Dataset Information

Asymmetry of mandibular dentition is associated with dietary specialization in snail-eating snakes.

Background

Methods

Results

Discussion

Publications

Asymmetry of mandibular dentition is associated with dietary specialization in snail-eating snakes.

Similar Datasets

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