This Invisible Ears on Snakes Are Critical for Their Survival!

Scientists in Australia are looking to finally answer an age old question.

Transcript

00:00Snakes are known for their forked tongues and slithering nature, but scientists say

00:08despite not having any visible ears, they're actually quite adept listeners.

00:12Researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia wanted to test just how good

00:15at hearing they were, setting up an experiment to test both air and ground vibrational sounds.

00:20What they found was that yes, snakes can definitely hear the sounds, but the reactions differed

00:24snake species to snake species.

00:26The researchers found that taipans, brown snakes, and death adders would slither away

00:30from the direction sounds were coming from.

00:32Woma pythons, on the other hand, would go towards the sound.

00:35So why the difference in snake behavior?

00:36Well, the snakes that moved away from the sounds are generally much smaller than the

00:40python, which stretches nearly 9 feet long and weighs around 11 pounds, meaning sounds

00:45more often lead to a meal for an animal that has few natural predators.

00:48They also tend to hunt larger prey as well, meaning animals that are more likely to make

00:52sounds in the bush.

00:53But the researchers writing in their report, quote, We know very little about how most

00:57snake species navigate situations and landscapes around the world, but our study shows that

01:01sound may be an important part of their sensory repertoire.