WHY THE STRIPES? As you may recognise, the upper picture is the yellow-striped blind snake, Rhinotyphlops unitaeniatus, endemic to eastern and north-eastern Africa, and my thanks to Sanda Ashe for this specimen, photographed at Watamu in November. They’re not common; I only ever found one myself, it was wandering through the grass at my feet at a Malindi bus stop during a massive mid-morning downpour, back in 1974. I’ve often wondered at the purpose of that golden vertebral stripe – they live underground most of the time, why the vivid colour? But in Tsavo recently I came across these stripe-backed millipedes. It set me wondering. Does that stripe have a purpose, that aids both animals?
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 23:30:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015