Do Reptiles Teach Their Young to Find Food?

Including animals as different as birds, snakes and turtles the reptile class exhibit a vast array of life cycles, evolutionary histories and survival strategies. Of the various clades, only birds, crocodiles and a few lizards and snakes engage in anything approaching parental care; of these, only birds teach their young to find food.

  1. Birds

    • Birds are the only living reptiles known to teach their young to find food. Robins (Turdus migratorius) will escort their newly fledged young to the ground where they will demonstrate where to find earthworms, and how to catch them. Swallows (Petrochelidon sp.) show their young how to catch flies and mosquitos while flying. Additionally, woodpeckers (Melanerpes sp.) have been observed to teach their young how to collect and find berries. Often, after showing the young bird how and where to catch a food source, the adult will leave the youngster so that it learns to provide for itself.

    Crocodilians

    • Crocodilians construct and guard large egg mounds. Upon hatching, mothers will escort the young to the relative safety of water by carrying them in her mouth. They will remain with her for up to a year; when frightened, the young emit a high pitched squeak to alert the mother; sometimes they crawl on her back for protection.

    Long Gone Parents

    • Most nonavian reptiles do not exhibit parental care. All turtles as well as most lizards and snakes simply deposit their eggs and leave them forever. Some lizards and snakes may guard their eggs, as will tuataras for a period of time. Some pythons are known not only to guard their eggs but to wrap around the clutch of eggs and heat the clutch by rapidly twitching their muscles. This accelerates the eggs̵7; development, which reduces the time the eggs and mother are at risk of predation. Some other snake species have evolved ovoviviparity, a reproductive style similar to live birth as seen in mammals. Ovoviviparous snakes produce soft eggs retained in the females' bodies until the eggs are about ready to hatch. When the females expel babies, some hatch during the process and others break free of their sacs shortly thereafter.

    Ontogenetic Differences

    • One reason many reptiles can̵7;t teach their young to feed is that the adults and young feed on different prey sources. Many snake species, like green tree pythons (Morelia viridis) and rat snakes (Pantherophis sp.), begin life by eating small, ectothermic prey like lizards and frogs. As these snakes mature, rodents and birds become dietary staples. Lizards exhibit similar ontogenetic, or age-related, dietary shifts. Nile monitors (Varanus niloticus) for example, prey on insects and small vertebrates as youngsters while the adults consume large, heavily armored land snails that the youngsters can̵7;t eat. Alligators demonstrate this tendency as well; like the Nile monitor, their teeth change to accommodate different diets as they age.

    Non-Social Animals

    • Most non-avian reptiles are solitary; interactions with conspecifics are limited to mating, male-male combat and predation. As opposed to many mammals and birds who naturally form familial groups, reptiles tend to scatter widely after hatching.