http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/21/camels-ocean-sea-snake-dehydrates-for-months/
-Nathan Haines
Monday, March 24, 2014
Sea snakes
A news article posted by Fox News on March 21, 2014, presents a study done by Coleman Sheehy, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Florida. This study examines the habits of the yellow-bellied sea snake (Pelamis platura) regarding hydration. These snakes are found drifting in the Indian and Pacific oceans and go months at a time without freshwater. But the snake must inevitably drink fresh water at some point, right? Coleman Sheehy says that these snakes have only one source of freshwater, which is rainwater. When it rains, the rainwater sits atop the more dense seawater, and the snakes will swim to the surface to rehydrate. According to the news article, Sheehy gathered some of these snakes and observed their behavior when placed in freshwater aquariums. The results showed that even in freshwater, the snakes journeyed to the surface for a drink of water. The reporter states that the snakes are "hardwired" to swim to the surface for a drink. Something that we might more appropriately call a behavioural adaptation that allows snakes to obtain fresh water.
A photo of Pelamis platura taken by Coleman Sheehy in Costa Rica.
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/21/camels-ocean-sea-snake-dehydrates-for-months/
-Nathan Haines
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/21/camels-ocean-sea-snake-dehydrates-for-months/
-Nathan Haines
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2 comments:
Wow! It's interesting that they deal with the marine environment so differently than sea turtles.
This is a truly unique snake! Months in the water, as a weak swimmer, mean that wherever they go is determined by currents which gives them a remarkably wide range (from East Africa to Central America). With the warm Kuroshio Current taking them as far north as southern Siberia it makes sense that they would need to be able to tolerate a wide range of temperatures (this article mentioned 36.0 and 11.7 degrees Celsius)!
I wonder how many other migratory snakes there are? I've never considered deep ocean snakes let alone ones with such a wide geographic range!
http://www.pnas.org/content/68/6/1360.full.pdf
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