can anyone please tell me if there is a good book that explains the different shapes that snake pupils come in and the purpose of the different shapes. I'm interested in learning more about how individual species of snakes see (some have large eyes like Amazon Tree Boas, some have slit pupils and some have round pupils; each seem to be different).
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snake eyes
-KMS-
Sep 05, 2003 01:38 PM
Replies (1)
jones
Sep 08, 2003 03:28 AM
Arboreal snakes tend to have larger eyes because they rely more on vision to catch their prey. Some of them will snag birds or bats in mid-flight. Eliptical (slit) pupils are mostly found on exclusively nocturnal snakes. See if you can find a picure of an asian vine snake, genus ahatuella. They have a real crazy key-hole shaped pupil that somehoe allows them great vision. They seem to have no problem seeing a camoflouged(sp?)lizard at a distance even if it's not moving. Sand boas and rosy boas have really small eyes because they spend a lot of time burrowing and therefore don't have much use for eyes. In fact. I remember somebody posted a picture of a kenyan sand boa with no eyes that had no problem tracking down it's prey. Most good snake books have a section on eye adaptations.
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