The researchers played three different sound frequencies to snakes kept in captivity one at a time in a soundproof room and observed their reactions.
Christina Zdenek from the University of Queensland’s School of Biological Sciences says “Because snakes don’t have external ears, people usually think they’re deaf and can only feel vibrations through the ground and into their bodies, But our research – the first of its kind using unanesthetized, free-moving snakes – found that they respond to sound waves that travel through the air and possibly to human voices”.
The study involved 19 snakes representing five genetic families of reptiles
Zdeněk says “We played one sound that made the ground vibrate, while the other two were just air, it meant we were able to test both types of ‘hearing’ – tactile hearing through the scales on the snakes’ abdomens and aerial hearing through their inner ear.”
Responses strongly depended on the genus of snakes
Zdeněk says “Only the woma python tended to move towards the sound, while the taipans, brown snakes and especially the mortal vipers tended to move away from it, types of behavioral responses also differed, with taipans in particular more likely to show defensive and cautious responses to the sound”.
For example, woma pythons are large nocturnal snakes with fewer predators than smaller species, and they probably don’t have to be as careful, so they tend to be closer to the sound.
“But taipans may have to be wary of predatory predators, and they also actively pursue their prey, so their senses seem to be much more sensitive.”
The findings challenge the assumption that snakes cannot hear sound, such as humans talking or shouting, and could change the way we see how they respond to sound.
“We know very little about how most snake species move in situations and landscapes around the world. But our study shows that sound may be an important part of their sensory repertoire. Snakes are very vulnerable, shy creatures that hide most of the time, and we still have so much to learn about them.”
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