Rainforests are full of unique and special types of creatures with the presence of suitable conditions like warmth and water.Snakes in general are found in greatest numbers
in tropical areas of Earth.
Most of the
Amphibians and
Reptiles lives in tropical areas.
Tropical areas have their own significance in wildlife world.Snakes attracts others animals around them in a two way as predator and prey.
Almost two thousands and seven hundreds species of snakes exists in this world but only thirty percent of them are venomous rest of them are non-venomous.
Without showing an exact figure of snakes living in rainforests,we assume that rainforests have similar proportion of venomous and non-venomous snakes.
Snakes use almost every type of habitat in rainforest,most of them
live on and
under the ground but some of them also use trees and water sources as their home or shelter.
Rainforest snakes are carnivores.They have several tricks to attack other animals.Non-venomous snakes can either pin their prey to ground or they wrap their own muscular
bodies around their prey in a coil and squeeze them until the victim dies with suffocaton.Venomous or poisonous snakes normally inject venom(poison) into their prey.
Boas (such as anacondas, boa constrictors and pythons) are probably some of the most popular rainforest snakes.
Amazon Snakes
Amazon forest is the
largest tropical rainsforest having variety of snakes .
More than
one hundred and seventy five types of snake live in this area called as Amazon forest.
Amazon basin have a large number of all types of reptiles in an area called as
floodplains,and though many species of snakes lives in Amazonian floodplains are
aquatic the
majority of them are most likely
live in or among trees.Many Amazonian snakes,like
boas,pit vipers and some colubrids,move to live in forest’s trees during floods.
Snakes’ Unique Anatomy
We all have read many stories about the amazing talent of snakes(like green anacondas and other large snakes)to swallow other species(animals) of truly astounding
dimensions(amazing size and shape).
Swallowing of larger and different shaped or sized preys is possible because of the unique physical construction of snake’s body
.Paul Cutright has given us excellent description.
According to Paul Cutright:
“The structure of hard palate and the relationship of lower jaw to upper one are responsible for the unparalleled swallowing feats of which snakes are capable.The hard palate
is not rigid in snakes as it is in mammals,lower jawbones of which there are two instead of one as in higher forms,are loosely attached to the cranium by elastic
connections.In practically all vertebrates the lower jaw is firmly anchored(attached)to the upper,and no amount of pulling will sever the connection,as a result the size of the
throat or pharynxis limited and only small morsels may be swallowed.
The loose connections in snakes,on the contrary permit the lower jaw to be pulled away from the upper,so that the size of the object
engulfed sometimes reaches perfectly
astounding(surperising) proportions.The existence of two lower jawbones connected in chin region only by elastic ligaments is also of advantage in increasing the size of oral
and
pharyngeal cavities.Moreover it facilitates to a great extent the swallowing process,for snakes ingest their food by a process which may be called
"jaw-walking."
Each half of lower jaw works independently.After the teeth of the snake have taken a firm grip on the animal the head end is invariably engulfed first,one half of the lower
jaw(the right side) for instance,is advanced a slight distance and then takes a new purchase while the left side holds and, at the same time, exerts a strong pull.The next
step is for the right side to pull while the left advances for a new hold.In this manner the body of the intended victim is slowly but surely "walked" into the gullet of the
serpent.
Snakes probably swallow other small snakes more rapidly than they swallow any other animals
.Four or five feet large snakes have been known to swallow others of their
kind only slightly inferior in size in a time of less than
ten minutes.While engaged in ingestion serpents can quickly disgorge(spit out) all that has been swallowed if they are
bothered or frightened.Frequently the entire animal has been swallowed and then regurgitated.”