독사와 지네 이야기 둘 VIDEO: Last Supper: Centipede Dies Eating Way Out of Snake Belly/A centipede that was devoured by a viper, ate its way out
#1 Last Supper: Centipede Dies Eating Way Out of Snake Belly
April 15, 2014 / 5:11
A Serbian herpetologist was out snake-tagging in Macedonia when she came across a bizarre find: A young viper, with a centipede’s head poking out of its abdomen.
Centipedes eat animals 15 times their size thanks to this powerful toxin, study finds
어린 독사, 살아있는 지네 삼켰다가 되레 먹혀 ‘두 개의 독이빨보다 백 개의 다리가 더 셌다.’ NBC는 자신보다 큰 지네를 먹은 어린 독사가 결국 배 속에 있는 지네에게 다시 먹혀 죽음을 당했다며 이같이 보도했다. NBC가 보도한 사진에는 죽은 독사의 복벽에 큰 구멍이 뚫려 있고, 지네가 그 구멍을 통해 자신의 머리를 내밀고 있다. 해당 독사는 마케도니아에서 다큐멘터리를 제작하고 있었던 파충류학자 느지르자나 토모빅에 의해 발견됐다. 토모빅은 “어린 독사는 4.2g이었고 지네는 4.8g으로 먹잇감이 포식자보다 더 컸다”고 말했다. 토모빅 등 파충류학자들은 독사가 지네를 살아있는 상태에서 한 번에 삼켜 이와 같은 죽음을 맞이했다고 밝혔다. 해부 결과 잡아먹히고도 살아 있었던 지네는 뱀의 내장 속에 들어가 자신이 살기 위해 뱀의 내장 등을 먹어치우며 복벽을 뚫고 나온 것으로 나타났다. 학자들이 독사를 발견했을 때, 이미 독사의 내장이 텅 비어 있는 상태였다. 지금까지 기록된 사실 중 가장 큰 먹이를 먹으려 했던 뱀은 지난 2005년 플로리다에서 발견됐던 비단뱀이었다. 길이가 13피트였던 비단뱀은 6피트 길이의 아메리칸 악어를 집어삼키고 소화를 시키려다가 결국 죽고 말았다. 이후연 기자 leewho@munhwa.com 문화일보 |
edited by kcontents
It took Ljiljana Tomovic 10 seconds to figure out what it was: The snake had swallowed the centipede, which had then tried to cut a path to freedom … by eating its way out.
Some time during its violent dash, the centipede died. Perhaps the snake’s venom kicked in — that's Tomovic's best guess.
Who ate who?Who ate who?Dragan Arovski
The island of Golem Grad in Macedonia's Lake Prespa, where the pair were found, is also known as “Snake Island” and for good reason: it’s crawling with snakes, lizards and tortoises. Adult vipers chow down on small rodents, leaving the younger crowd to snack on centipedes.
It seems this time “the young snake gravely underestimated the size and strength of the centipede,” Tomovic, biology professor at the University of Belgrade, and her colleagues write in a brief report.
After dissolving (or digesting) the snake’s bones and gut the centipede was wearing its skin like a cloak. “We found that only the snake’s body wall remained — the entire volume of its body was occupied by the centipede,” Tomovic and co. write in Ecologica Montenegrina.
'Two fangs good, but a 100 legs are better,' Tomavic and co. write. This snake managed to swallow a centipede that was wider, and heavier, than its own body.'Two fangs good, but a 100 legs are better,' Tomavic and co. write. This snake managed to swallow a centipede that was wider, and heavier, than its own body.Dragan Arsovski
Together, centipede and viper can face-off like gladiators in Rome.
As this crocodile-wresting snake from Queensland recently demonstrated, many snake species aren’t shy about gulping down prey as large or larger than themselves.
Some centipede species are equally cavalier and ferocious. They’ll lunge into battle with animals many times their size like mice and snakes. The foot-long Amazonian giant centipede hunts and eats bats
