Beyond Venom and Constriction: Bite Performance and Trophic Ecology in the Genus Drymarchon

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  Beyond Venom and Constriction: Bite Performance and Trophic Ecology in the Genus Drymarchon Abstract Snakes exhibit extreme cranial kinesis that facilitates ingestion of prey with large cross-sectional area, but this ability is widely predicted to reduce bite performance due to decreased structural rigidity. Consequently, most large-bodied snakes rely on envenomation or constriction to subdue prey prior to ingestion. Species within the genus Drymarchon represent a notable exception: these large, non-venomous, non-constricting snakes routinely consume a wide range of prey, including large and potentially dangerous vertebrates, using only simple seizing and pinioning behaviors. Here, we quantify bite performance in three species of Drymarchon ( D. corais, D. couperi, and D. melanurus ), examine morphological predictors of biting performance, compare biting pressure to constriction pressure in similarly sized snakes, and synthesize dietary records across the genus. Our results sh...

A new species of Liocheles Sundevall, 1833 (Scorpiones: Hormuridae) from the Western Himalayas

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A new species of Liocheles Sundevall, 1833 (Scorpiones: Hormuridae) from the Western Himalayas

Abstract

Sampling in the Western Himalayas of India led to the discovery of a population of the genus Liocheles Sundevall, 1833, that differes from all Indian congeners. Molecular and morphological data confirmed the distinctiveness of the population, which is here described as a new species. The new species is morphologically similar to L. longimanus (Werner, 1939), from which it differs in the arrangement of trichobothria on external patella and structure of the hemispermatophore. A preliminary molecular phylogeny of the family Hormuridae based on the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene is presented.

Bhardwaj, V. К., Katal, S., Lalremsanga, H. T., & Mirza, Z. A. 2026 . A new species of Liocheles Sundevall, 1833 (Scorpiones: Hormuridae) from the Western Himalayas. Euscorpius, No. 441: 1-13. https://mds.marshall.edu/euscorpius/vol2026/iss441/1/