Scientists have discovered the body of the rarest snake in North America, which died of an unexpected cause.

Biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute have determined the cause of death of the rarest snake in North America found in Florida National Park – it choked to death while trying to swallow a venomous centipede. The journal reports the finding. Ecology.

Tough Crowned Stone Snake (Tantilla oolitica) spends most of its life underground, hiding in crevices or burrowing under rocks. Only about 26 people are known to exist – their living space has been reduced by 98% due to the urbanization of the state. Until recently, no one even knew what this species ate. No one has seen a crowned stone snake, alive or dead, since 2018.

But in 2022, a visitor to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park stumbled upon a dead snake while walking along the trail. The animal died trying to eat its prey – a giant centipede (Scolopendra alternans). Other species of crowned snakes also eat giant centipedes and other potentially dangerous prey, including scorpions. The length of the individual found was just over 20 centimeters. It was able to swallow prey of about 50 millimeters and still had a 23 millimeter centipede left until the end of its journey. Computed tomography, first performed on this species, showed that the predator’s trachea was clamped. A wound from the poisonous claws of a centipede was also found on the snake. The effect, however, appears to have resulted in only minor bleeding, not poisoning.

Since 1975, the crowned stone snake has been listed as endangered. The study has given us a better understanding of the lifestyle of a rare species and will help develop measures to protect it in the future.