Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 17 April 1981:
Vol. 212. no. 4492, pp. 346 - 349
DOI: 10.1126/science.212.4492.346
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Hinged Teeth in Snakes: An Adaptation for Swallowing Hard-Bodied Prey

ALAN H. SAVITZKY 1

1 Division of Reptiles and Amphibians, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560, and Museum of Natural History and Department of Systematics and Ecology, University of Kansas, Lawrence 66045

Six genera of snakes, representing at least three lineages, possess teeth that fold backward against the jaws rather than being firmly ankylosed. This condition, effected by a connective tissue hinge at the base of each tooth, is associated with suites of cephalic modifications that enable the snakes to grasp and to swallow hard-bodied prey.

Submitted on May 31, 1980
Revised on September 3, 1980

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)