Pythons have huge appetites, but which snake around the world would win an eating contest?
Surprisingly, it's a harmless little African snake that consumes eggs whole.
Biologist Bruce Jayne at the University of Cincinnati discovered that the Gans' egg-eater, or Dasypeltis gansi, can consume bigger prey relative to its own length and mass than even Burmese pythons, among the most massive snakes on Earth.
"They probably would hold the Guinness world record," said Jayne, a professor of biological sciences in UC's College of Arts and Sciences.
"It's spectacular but on a small scale," he said. "People focus on big snakes eating big things, but if you correct for their size, these little guys are pretty scary."
The study was published in the Journal of Zoology.
UC Professor Bruce Jayne discovered that an African egg-eating snake can swallow bigger prey relative to its size than even a Burmese python. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
The Gans' egg-eating snakes grow to about three feet long. Named for herpetologist Carl Gans, the egg-eater is skinnier than many egg-loving snakes found in the United States such as the yellow rat snake, which is known to pillage chicken coops.
A quail egg is a snack for a Gans' egg-eater, which can swallow whole eggs even bigger than this one in a UC biology lab. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
Jayne said the superpower is an effective survival strategy. Most bird eggs are nearly spherical, like a Ping-Pong ball. Birds, mice and rats are elongated, providing more calories than an egg of the same circumference.
But the Gans' egg-eater compensates by being able to swallow far bigger eggs for its size, Jayne said.
A Gans' egg-eater has the ability to consume enormous prey relative to its size. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
