Erpeton
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| Erpeton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Head of Erpeton tentaculatum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Subfamily: | Homalopsinae |
| Genus: | Erpeton Lacépède, 1800 |
| Species | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Rhinopirus Merrem, 1820 | |
Erpeton is a genus of water snake of the family Colubridae, which includes a single known species, the tentacled snake, Erpeton tentaculatum, which is native to South-East Asia. They are aquatic and extremely fast in catching their prey, small fish.[1] The snakes accomplish the capture of their prey by cheating on a C-start escape reflex of the fish: after a fish approaches, the snake bends, and makes a quick movement with a measured segment of its body, startling the fish exactly in the direction of snake's head.[2]
Footnotes
- ↑ LiveScience video - Snake Tricks Prey
- ↑ Catania KC (April 2011). "The brain and behavior of the tentacled snake". Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1225 (1): 83–9. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.05959.x. PMID 21534995.
References
- Catania, Kenneth C (2011). "Natural-Born Killer: Lethal from day one, the tentacled snake uses surprisingly sly tactics to capture fish." Scientific American. April 2011, pp. 65–67.
External links
- http://www.torontozoo.com/Animals/details.asp?AnimalId=580
- http://whozoo.org/Intro2002/StephReder/SJR_Tentacledsnake.htm
- http://scientificamerican.com/apr2011/catania
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