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lol i like it! ( but i like the latin for them better than i do the common name too... im weird like that.
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Oh, I'm with you on that, though I'm rather annoyed by the tendency for them to change so frequently, especially without waiting for approval from the ICZN. The whole "Pantherophis" thing still crops up, and the re-naming was rejected about 2 years ago.
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you know, ive seen those before, the images at least. i never actually LOOKED at the quicktime movies of the slices/scans. Holy COOL. I never opened up my guys mouth to notice that they have two rows of upper teeth! THAT, is wicked! But i did know that their teeth are actually attached to... What are they called? little ligaments? so they move inside the jaw. * im pretty sure im remembering that right* Which is something i thought was really really neat.
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Actually, most snakes have that. A pair of bones which formerly were the roof of the mouth have been reduced the struts running parallel to the maxilla, and now bear teeth. They're capable of moving independently from the maxilla, and they play a big role in swallowing large prey. There are several muscles and ligaments associated with them, and in vipers, they're part of the complex system that swings the fangs forwards.
You can use this cladogram to see all the other scans they've put in so far (snakes are just lumped in with lizards)
Sadly, they don't have the weirdest one, Bitia hydroides, a bizarre homalopsine snake from SE Asia where instead of enlarging the maxillary teeth like an Amazon Tree Boa, they've enlarged the palatine teeth, which should obstruct feeding. Unfortunately, they're rarely been seen alive, and we only have a handful of specimens, so the best we can figure is that it has something to do with the gobies in their stomachs.
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I never really thought about the expansion much. ( would make me wary of feeding large prey) What exactly did he find out? ( if you want to point me to his research, id be happy to look)
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Well, it's all preliminary right now, but he's been feeding them things 3+ times their head size with little difficulty. The paper will be out eventually, but he's still gathering the data at the moment.
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Id really really love to see a captive bred population in the states, instead of WC stuff.
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Ditto; I love obscure and strange species, especially sunbeams, but I've never bumped into any when I've had the time to really care for them.