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Home Discoveries Animal World

The snake species that holds the record for the size of prey it can swallow

by Sci
September 12, 2023
in Animal World
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The Gans Egg-Eating Snake has a small body but can open its mouth extremely wide, allowing it to swallow large spherical bird eggs whole.

Known for their ability to consume massive meals, pythons are outshone by one particular snake species that preys on the largest prey relative to its size, according to a report by Live Science on September 8.

After swallowing the egg whole, the Gans egg-eating snake twists its body to break the egg and regurgitate the shell.
After swallowing the egg whole, the Gans egg-eating snake twists its body to break the egg and regurgitate the shell. (Photo: Bruce Jayne)

Named the Gans Egg-Eating Snake (Dasypeltis gansi), this non-venomous African snake can open its mouth wide enough to swallow a spherical bird egg whole, despite its small size of only about 102 cm in length. Its ability to consume prey significantly larger than itself stems from a stretchy skin layer connecting the right and left lower jaw bones, enabling the snake to open its mouth extraordinarily wide, as reported in a study published in the Journal of Zoology in August.

“They seem to hold the world record for mouth gape size relative to overall size. Their ability is even more impressive than that of the Burmese python,” stated study author Bruce Jayne, a professor of biology at the University of Cincinnati.

In fact, the Gans egg-eating snake can swallow prey that is 3 to 4 times larger than what common snakes can handle, such as the black rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus). Jayne tested the egg-swallowing ability of the Gans egg-eating snake in the lab. He fed the animal a quail egg. After swallowing it whole, it twisted its body to break the egg, eventually regurgitating the broken shell. The entire process lasted 15 to 30 minutes.

Jayne explained: “The fact that the Gans egg-eating snake has almost no teeth is quite advantageous because it prevents the liquid inside the egg from spilling out during swallowing. Swallowing a relatively solid, hard, and slippery object is very challenging. Sharp teeth would cause the contents of the egg to leak out if the shell were punctured.”

CT images showing the maximum mouth gape size of the rat snake (left) and the egg-eating snake (right)
CT images showing the maximum mouth gape size of the rat snake (left) and the egg-eating snake (right) with the same body length. (Photo: Bruce Jayne)

This is not the first time Jayne has examined mouth size in snakes. Last year, he researched how wide Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) can open their mouths, discovering they can impressively consume large prey. In the wild, they can swallow deer whole. However, the Gans egg-eating snake can even consume prey with a cross-sectional area more than twice that of a Burmese python of equal weight.

According to Jayne, this “superpower” is a survival mechanism for the Gans egg-eating snake because most bird eggs are plump and spherical, while rat eggs are typically elongated. Bird eggs pose greater challenges for snakes that cannot open their mouths wide. The Gans egg-eating snake has developed the ability to open its mouth extremely wide, allowing it to specialize in consuming large meals. One advantage of eating eggs is that they do not move or fight back like living creatures.

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