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Feeding by mandibular raking in a snake

Nature volume 402, pages 369–370 (1999)Cite this article

The tiny threadsnake has a unique way of devouring ants before they can strike back.

Abstract

Most snakes transport prey through the mouth by using asynchronous ratcheting movements of their upper jaws1,2. In contrast, we have found that threadsnakes (members of the basal snake clade Scolecophidia) have a unique feeding mechanism in which the tooth-bearing elements of the lower jaw rotate synchronously in and out of the mouth, dragging prey into the oesophagus. This mechanism, which we call ‘mandibular raking’, is the only vertebrate feeding mechanism known in which prey is transported exclusively by movements of the lower jaw.

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Figure 1: Morphology and function of the feeding apparatus in Leptotyphlops dulcis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Program and Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 01003-5810, Massachusetts, USA

    N. J. Kley & E. L. Brainerd

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  1. N. J. Kley
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  2. E. L. Brainerd
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Correspondence to N. J. Kley.

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Kley, N., Brainerd, E. Feeding by mandibular raking in a snake. Nature 402, 369–370 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/46460

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