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Snake Embryos Coil Right Due to Gut Development Mismatch
Confirmed
In Short: New research reveals that snake embryos coil to the right because their growing bodies outpace their guts, creating a spiral.
An international team of researchers, led by Dr. Tetsuto Miyashita from the Canadian Museum of Nature, has discovered that snake embryos coil to the right due to a mismatch in growth between their bodies and guts.
Their study, published in Current Biology, found that snake embryos coil right-handedly before they develop muscles to move.
Dr. Miyashita's team observed that snake embryos coil in a right-handed spiral during the first few weeks after eggs are laid.
A CT scan of a snake embryo revealed a unique structure: a pillar of gut stretching through the spiral of the coiling body.
This observation suggests that the gut holds back the growing body, causing the embryo to buckle and twist into a right-handed spiral.
As the snake embryo grows, its spine extends faster than its gut, creating a physical mismatch.
Because the yolk is situated on the embryo's left side, the growing snake coils away from it, producing a clockwise twist.
This finding helps explain how snakes develop one of the most extreme body plans in the animal kingdom.
Snake embryos must fit hundreds of future vertebrae into the egg's tight confines, and coiling is not just a consequence of becoming long.
The team's research provides new insights into the developmental mechanisms that shape snake embryos.
The study links this coiling ability to how snakes develop the longest bodies of any vertebrate animals before hatching.
What this adds
The exact mechanism by which the gut influences the coiling direction remains to be fully understood.
Further research is needed to explore how this coiling behavior affects snake development and survival.
What's confirmed
- An international team of researchers, led by Dr. Tetsuto Miyashita from the Canadian Museum of Nature, has discovered that snake embryos coil to the right due to a mismatch in growth between their bodies and guts.
- Their study, published in Current Biology, found that snake embryos coil right-handedly before they develop muscles to move.
- Dr. Miyashita's team observed that snake embryos coil in a right-handed spiral during the first few weeks after eggs are laid.
- A CT scan of a snake embryo revealed a unique structure: a pillar of gut stretching through the spiral of the coiling body.
- This observation suggests that the gut holds back the growing body, causing the embryo to buckle and twist into a right-handed spiral.
- As the snake embryo grows, its spine extends faster than its gut, creating a physical mismatch.
- Because the yolk is situated on the embryo's left side, the growing snake coils away from it, producing a clockwise twist.
- This finding helps explain how snakes develop one of the most extreme body plans in the animal kingdom.
- Snake embryos must fit hundreds of future vertebrae into the egg's tight confines, and coiling is not just a consequence of becoming long.
- The team's research provides new insights into the developmental mechanisms that shape snake embryos.
- The study links this coiling ability to how snakes develop the longest bodies of any vertebrate animals before hatching.
What's still developing
- “But we didn’t know what’s making them do that.” As development continues, the growing embryos reposition themselves while the yolk shrinks.
- Their muscles mature, allowing them to wiggle and change the direction of their coils.
- Long before they slither into your nightmares, baby snakes perform a curious feat: early in the egg, they begin to coil, forming a tight spiral that is almost always clockwise.
- UBC dentistry professor Dr. Joy Richman was a big help, providing images of snake embryos she had been studying and carefully photographed to investigate tooth replacement and skull development.