Title
Notes on the diet, foraging behavior, and venom of some snakes in Belize
Author(s)
Platt, Steven G.;Rainwater, Thomas R. ;Meerman, Jan C. ;Miller, Stanlee M.
Published
2016
Publisher
Mesoamerican Herpetology
Abstract
For a variety of reasons, tropical snakes have received comparatively less study than those found in the temperate
zone (Avila et al., 2006). In particular, our understanding of tropical snake ecology is hampered by a lack of dietary
data (Vitt, 1987). This situation is unfortunate, because knowledge of the diet of any organism is fundamental to
understanding its ecology (Rosenberg and Cooper, 1990), and dietary studies of snakes are important in understanding
the role played by these predatory reptiles in ecological systems (Mushinsky, 1987). Moreover, observations of
foraging behavior, prey capture, and prey handling can provide useful insights into trophic relationships, hunting
strategies, and prey selection (Fitch, 1987b; Arnold, 1992); however, such observations remain poorly documented
for most tropical and even many well-studied temperate zone snake species (Fitch, 1987a).
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PUB19016