Fang evolution in venomous snakes: Adaptation of 3D tooth shape to the biomechanical properties of their prey

Abstract

Venomous snakes are among the world's most specialized predators. During feeding, they use fangs to penetrate the body tissues of their prey, but the success of this penetration depends on the shape of these highly specialized teeth. Here, we examined the evolution of fang shape in a wide range of snakes using 3D geometric morphometrics (3DGM) and cross-sectional tooth sharpness measurements. We investigated the relationship of these variables with six diet categories based on the prey's biomechanical properties, and tested for evolutionary convergence using two methods. Our results show that slender elongate fangs with sharp tips are used by snakes that target soft-skinned prey (e.g., mammals), whereas fangs become more robust and blunter as the target's skin becomes scaly (e.g., fish and reptiles) and eventually hard-shelled (e.g., crustaceans), both with and without correction for evolutionary allometry. Convergence in fang shape is present, indicating that fangs of snakes with the same diet are more similar than those of closely related species with different diets. Establishing the relationship between fang morphology and diet helps to explain how snakes became adapted to different lifestyles, while also providing a proxy to infer diet in lesser known species or extinct snakes from the fossil record.

Keywords: 3D Geometric morphometrics; convergence; dentition; diet; serpentes; tooth sharpness.