![]() ![]() Morphometric analysis revealed that ~40% of the variation in skull shape was associated with body size (SVL). Dugites demonstrate a distinct size-related shift in diet: the smallest individuals ate autotomised reptile tails and reptiles, medium-sized individuals predominantly ate mammals, and the largest individuals had the most diverse diet, including large reptiles. We hypothesised that changes in prey type throughout postnatal ontogeny would coincide with distinct changes in skull shape. We investigated ontogenetic variation in diet from stomach contents of 161 Dugite specimens ( Pseudonaja affinis, Elapidae) representing the full range of body size for the species, and skull morphology of 46 specimens (range 0.25–1.64 m snout-vent-length SVL). Ontogenetic changes in prey type and size are likely to be associated with distinct morphological changes in the skull during growth. As snakes are limbless, gape-limited predators, their skull is the main feeding structure involved in prey handling, manipulation and feeding.
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