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WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I GET STRANDED ON SNAKE ISLAND?
BBC Science Focus
|August 2023
Just off the coast of southern Brazil lies the island of Queimada Grande, known as 'Snake Island'. Covering just 43 hectares (106 acres), this rocky island is home to between 2,000 and 4,000 highly venomous golden lancehead vipers (Bothrops insularis), which can grow to 70cm (just over 2ft). The snakes were trapped there around 11,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, when rising sea levels cut them off from the mainland.
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ROSEMARY NORTON, VIA EMAIL
No mammals live on the island, so the snakes had no predators to keep their numbers in check, but also very limited prey. With few ground animals to hunt, the snakes became specialists in catching birds that visit the island during their annual migrations.
This diet may explain why their venom is so deadly. Whereas most venomous snakes have the luxury of biting their prey and tracking it until it succumbs to the venom, the golden lancehead needs to kill their prey quickly, before the bird has a chance to fly off.
This story is from the August 2023 edition of BBC Science Focus.
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