There were several ribbon snakes (Thamnophis proximus) around to greet us upon arrival in the wetland. They are fairly aggressive and difficult to catch because they quickly slide underneath the vegetation.
There were several ribbon snakes (Thamnophis proximus) around to greet us upon arrival in the wetland. They are fairly aggressive and difficult to catch because they quickly slide underneath the vegetation.
Wasn’t expecting such a bright red tongue. Do you think tongue color has any sort of significance?
I don’t know; the only literature I have here is Savage 2002, which doesn’t say anything about it. I’ll try to ask Mahmood, a herpetologist and station director in Palo Verde, if he knows.
What I did find in Savage was a passage about lack of contact between squamate tongues and the Jacobson’s organ. Apparently, the forked tongue is not slid inside the Jacobson’s organ, but pressed against another piece of tissue which is then used to finalize the transfer of any chemicals the tongue picked up (Gillingham and Clark 1981). It may not be the case for all snake though.