Re: Greece
Posted: Mon May 01, 2017 1:17 pm
Ilian Velikov wrote:Ruggero Morimando wrote:This short footage is an example of the neck movements I mean:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mazkGnU ... e=youtu.be
That's very interesting! I've never seen or heard of it. At first I thought it has to do with the muscle contractions needed for the snake to go backwards into the stone wall but then this would mean that other species would be doing the same and it would have been seen more often.
My theory is that it's a defensive behavior - moving the area with those big spots (which could resemble fake eyes?) while keeping the head completely still to confuse a predator and take the attention away from the grey head. The stones in najadum habitat are often grey so the head and background neck colour would blend in but the moving spots would stick out.
P. najadum spend a lot of time with their heads and necks sticking out of stones/rocks so this could explain the grey colouration and big (the size of the eye) spots on the first part of the body.
An attractive effect over its preys (lizards)?