There are many islands all over the world, these islands are generally not very large, the island has almost no biodiversity, or even a complete food chain, only a few poisonous snakes live here, so it is also called: Snake Island. Among them, the more famous snake islands are Dalian Snake Island in China and Dakai Mada Island in Brazil. The area of Dalian Snake Island is not as large as 1 square kilometer, but there are more than 20,000 black-browed pit vipers living on the island, which are several times more poisonous than those on land.
The area of DakaiMada Island is only 0.43 square kilometers, and there are more than 4,000 golden spearhead pit vipers on the island, which are also several times more poisonous than pit vipers on land. Not only that, after the golden spearhead pit viper bites a person or other animal, the venom can even play a corrosive role, so most of the snake islands have become forbidden areas for humans. Only a very small number of scientific researchers can land on the island for scientific research activities. So the question is, we all know that honey badgers are natural enemies of snakes, if we put honey badgers on the island of Big Kaimada, will more than 4,000 golden spearhead pit vipers on the island become extinct?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > the evolutionary history of "venomous snakes" on Snake Island</h1>
To understand this question, we must first figure out, why are there only these snakes left on these islands?
In fact, these islands were previously connected to the mainland. Let's take Dalian Snake Island as an example, because the sea level was not so high before. Therefore, the ecology of Dalian Snake Island is connected to the entire continent, and the food chain is complete. As a result of the orogeny more than 100 million years ago, it had a huge impact on the entire East Asian sector. As a result, Snake Island was isolated overseas.
After being isolated overseas, the ecology of Dalian Snake Island at the beginning should also be complete. But due to the lack of enough food, herbivores began to become extinct, close to carnivores. In the end, only the pit viper remained. The viper's survivability is super, and more importantly, the pit viper on Dalian Snake Island has also evolved a "summer sleep", which can enter a sleeping state in the hot summer without eating. Thus, in both summer and winter, pit vipers can rely on "sleeping" to maximize energy savings. In spring and autumn, they rely on migratory birds that pass by the islands to feed.
Not only that, but because those more venomous pit vipers have a higher probability of catching migratory birds, they are more likely to survive. With the passage of time, the pit vipers of Dalian Snake Island have become more and more poisonous.
Brazil's Dakaimada Island is similar to that of Dalian Snake Island, which is isolated overseas because of global warming 13,000 years ago, which has led to continuous sea level rise. The venomous snakes on Dakaimada Island have also undergone a situation similar to the pit viper on Dalian Island, which has evolved and become more and more poisonous.
According to scientists, the golden spearhead pit viper on the island of Grand Kaimada is 5 times larger than that of the viper on land in South America. You know, 13,000 years ago, they belonged to the same lineage. If the honey badger and the super-poisonous golden spearhead pit viper encounter, will the honey badger still have a chance?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="10" > flathead vs golden spearhead pit viper</h1>
The Honey Badger is known as the Flathead Brother, and the main part is in Africa, West Asia and South Asia. The Guinness Book of World Records once included honey badgers as "the world's most fearless animals".
Honey badgers are not only bold, but also stubborn. Therefore, in the African savannah, honey badgers are often seen fighting with wild beasts such as lions that are much larger than themselves.
Honey badgers are natural enemies of snakes, and snakes under 1.5 meters in length can be eaten in 15 minutes. And the honey badger is also very good for the poisonous snake, its own skin is thick and thick, it is not easy to be bitten, and the venom is not easy to enter the honey badger's body. Secondly, it is really bitten, and the honey badger is also immune to snake venom, and it will be fine to lie on the ground and sleep. Therefore, if the honey badger encounters a poisonous snake in the wild, it is simply adding food to the honey badger.
Objectively speaking, they will certainly not encounter the golden spearhead pit viper. However, if the honey badger really encounters the golden spearhead pit viper, the honey badger's chances of winning are still very large. In particular, honey badgers can be almost invincible in winter, after all, the golden spearhead pit viper is in the east at this time, and the honey badger has a keen sense of smell and can quickly find them out and eat them.
Even in other seasons, honey badgers can kill on Snake Island. The Golden Spearhead Viper is not like humans, they do not know how to fight in teams, and it is almost impossible to win alone with the Honey Badger. Will the golden spearhead pit viper be eaten extinct by honey badgers?
Because of the lack of food on The Great Kaimada Island, the golden spearhead pit viper is the only food for honey badgers. According to the calculation of a honey badger eating one golden spearhead pit viper every day, 4,000 golden spearhead pit vipers are only enough for two honey badgers to eat for 5.5 years. The average lifespan of the honey badger itself is 24 years old, and the golden spearhead pit viper itself breeds very slowly, so the honey badger should be able to eat the golden spearhead pit viper in its lifetime.