Large Mouths Drove Island Snakes to Gigantism

Big-mouthed baby snakes are to blame for the evolution of giant snakes on the islands around Australia, new research suggests. Island life meant limited food choices, which in some areas selected for larger mouthed offspring, which made these tiger snakes about twice as large as their mainland cousins.

"The results were unequivocal: snake body size at birth tightly matches the size of prey available on each island," study researcher Fabien Aubret of the French National Centre for Scientific Research in France. If the snakes were smaller, they would have a harder time trying to eat the large prey on some of these islands.

The study was published in the June 2012 issue of the journal The American Naturalist.

Mainland tiger snakes generally max out at 35 inches (89 centimeters) long and patrol swampy areas in search of frogs. When sea levels rose around 10,000 years ago, some tiger snakes found themselves marooned on frog-free islands. With their favorite food gone, some of the snakes had to survive off of skinks, rodents, and nesting oceanic bird chicks, the researchers said.

Read on:  http://www.livescience.com/20303-large-mouths-drove-island-snakes-gigantism.html

Snakes Wreak Havoc In Florida Everglades (via Simon Reames)

Giant snakes appear to be wiping out the mammal population of Florida's Everglades, it is being warned.

The snakes, including huge pythons and constrictors believed to be pets turned loose by their owners, have been eating large numbers of animals such as raccoons, opossums and bobcats.

According to a study, sightings of medium-size mammals have dropped dramatically over the past 11 years - as much as 99% in some cases.

Scientists fear the pythons could be disrupting the food chain and upsetting the Everglades'environmental balance in ways difficult to predict.

"The effects of declining mammal populations on the overall Everglades ecosystem, which extends well beyond the national park boundaries, are likely profound," said research scientist and co-author of the study John Willson.

"The magnitude of these declines underscores the apparent incredible density of pythons in Everglades National Park," said co-author professor Michael Dorcas.

Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons, which are native to Southeast Asia, are believed to be living in the Everglades, where they thrive in the warm, humid climate.

While many were apparently released by their owners, others may have escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and have been reproducing ever since.

Burmese pythons can grow to be 26ft (8m) long and weigh more than 200lbs (90kg).

They and other constrictor snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and suffocating it and have been known to swallow animals as large as alligators.

Florida banned private ownership of Burmese pythons in 2010.

A federal ban on the import of Burmese pythons and three other snakes was announced earlier this month.

Watch video at: http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16160354