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Video footage of the moment snakes found themselves at their prey reveals that the reptilian are either " strikers " or " lungers " — and the departure between the two is rooted in their teeth , new inquiry has found .
Strikers attack at lightning speed from above , impaling their prey with needlelike teeth at the front of their lower jaw before envelop their head over and around to shoot venom with their fang , or to crush the animal to last . Thesesnakesinclude many boas , such as feather boa constrictors ( Boa constrictor ) , and python .
A reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus) prepares to bite a dead rodent in the laboratory.
Kingsnakes , pine snakes ( Pituophis melanoleucus ) and some ground feather boa are lungers , according toBill Ryerson , a senior lecturer in general anatomy at Cornell University ’s College of Veterinary Medicine . Lungers " hit more tardily and do n’t open up their mouths as broad , " Ryerson , who presented the Modern research at theannual group meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biologyearlier this calendar month , tell Live Science in an email . " They make contact with both jaw simultaneously . "
herpetologist have long concentre their attention on snake in the grass ' fangs , which are teeth modify to inject venom , but they have for the most part ignored the rest of the teeth . " We just assumed they are all the same and will not say us much about the evolution of snakes , " Ryerson said .
But Ryerson ’s work intimate otherwise . While a serpent ’s other tooth may not take in our center quite the same as its fangs do , they are still important in how snakes develop to round and kill , he said .
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" I ’ve done quite a second of work in the last few long time on the striking behavior of snakes and I began to question how those tooth function in the ultrafast striking , peculiarly for the non - virulent ophidian like our boa and pythons , " Ryerson said . While peering into the mouths of dozens of preserved specimens , Ryerson found that some snakes , such as boa constrictors , have narrow , upright tooth in their front humiliated jaw , while others , including kingsnakes , have stouter , curved tooth .
Then , Ryerson usedX - raysto scan the jaw and teeth of almost 70 Snake from 13 species , Sciencereported . Using high - speed video , he also filmed snakes charge at dead rodents that he jiggle in front of them to canvass the snake ' striking behavior .
His observations neatly sorted into two categories , Ryerson said . striker showed more variation in the size and shape of their dentition , which became shorter , broad and more curved toward the throat . Lungers , on the other hand , had all-encompassing , curved teeth all along their upper and low jaws .
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The fact that Snake have unlike dentitions was n’t so surprising , as it was " unconvincing that all the teeth would be the same across all species , " Ryerson sound out . " However , I was surprised by how well the material body of the teeth corresponded to the work stoppage behaviour . "
numberless element influence the form and behaviour of snakes , so Ryerson expected a blurrier impression , he say . " It ’s really made me excited to try and sample more broadly to see how well this pattern will hold back up , " he added .
More specialized snake species , such as those that live in trees or underground , may not fit into either family , Ryerson say .
