Serpent Anatomy: Unique Markings Reveal Slithery Snakes' Evolutionary History

The Great Plains ground snake (Sonora episcopa) will change its appearance and take on various colors and patterns. A single red stripe can be seen running the body's length-alternatively, black and white bands. Alternatively, red and black bands. It can also be strong brown at times.

To add to the confusion, they can also have other distinct marks, such as black dots on their head or a collar around their throat. These specific marks, according to recent studies, are potential clues into their evolutionary history.

Cross Studying Species

Land study and genetic analysis were merged by researchers from Florida International University (FIU) and the University of Michigan to better understand what was causing color variation in Great Plains ground snakes. They discovered that mimicry-the mechanism by which one species grows to resemble another species in which it is not even closely related-plays a significant, although often unseen, role in this extraordinary diversity. This recent discovery has significant consequences for understanding other animals that once used mimicry but no longer possess mimetic traits.

Are Great Plains Snake Dangerous?

The snakes of the Great Plains are completely harmless. They've adapted to use mimicry as a means of defense, deceiving their predators into believing they're poisonous coral snakes.

They don't necessarily have the same mimicry marks as other animals. However, it turns out that the mimicry characteristics and other color differences that aren't associated with mimicry have a clear genetic correlation. They have a record of their ancestral experience of mimicry on their skins, written in the shape of black caps or collars.

Mimicry

"Mimicry appears to be an engine for biodiversity that drives color variation between organisms," said Christian Cox, a co-author of the study and an evolutionary biologist at the FIU Institute of Environment. "Even in groups that don't have mimicry characteristics, the same form of selection that drives mimicry may be important for driving diversity. The black cap and neck, for example, are not mimicry characteristics, but they are genetically linked to the red and black bands used in coral snake mimicry."

Research Facilitators

The thesis was conducted by John David Curlis, a master's student who studied with Cox and is now a Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan studying with professor Alison Davis Rabosky. In the field and from museum collections, he studied over 1,200 snakes. He noted the color differences and then checked for the presence of the black cap and collar. He used this data in conjunction with genetic profiling to create a diagram of how different populations appear based on where they live.

Red Snakes

There is a population of snakes with the red stripe in New Mexico, for example. Another species that looks like coral snakes can be found farther south. A stable brown party can be found much farther south. The same story can be seen around the world in other nations.

"'Why does it look like that?' is one of the first questions people have when they see an animal. Although it seems to be a straightforward question, it almost always has a complicated solution, "Curlis remarked. "That's why I'm doing this research; I want to learn more about why animals look the way they do, especially in systems with a lot of color variance."

Proceedings of the Royal Society B published the study.

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Tags snake, anatomy