When a sophisticated feeding apparatus fails: A remarkable case of fatality in a juvenile Crotalus atrox Baird & Girard, 1853 (Squamata: Viperidae).

Snakes are well known for regularly swallowing very large prey in one piece. A highly kinetic skull with a specialized jaw system are considered prerequisites for ingesting prey items that are larger in diameter than the snake's own head. Numerous studies have documented how sophisticated this feeding apparatus has become adapted to this spatial constraint and to transport and swallow large prey. However, here we report on a female juvenile western diamondback rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox Baird & Girard, 1853 (Squamata: Viperidae) that died after feeding. This particular animal managed to swallow its own lower jaw and as a result the specimen suffocated because the tracheal opening was blocked. This is the first report on such a remarkable and fatal malfunction of the ophidian feeding mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]