Why human pollution is causing this snake to lose its stripes
The turtle-headed sea snake is showing signs of industrial melanism.
Researchers have found that a sea snake’s appearance has been drastically changed by the effects of living close to humans.
Turtle-headed sea snakes live on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific and have characteristic black and white stripes across their bodies. But the research, published in Current Biology, found snakes living in areas with more human activity nearby became entirely black.
In contrast to those exposed to pollution, snakes which lived in pristine parts of a reef were found to still have their white bands.
The effect of darkening skin in animals due to pollution is known as industrial melanism – and the graph and images below show the effect urban-industrial areas had on the appearance of snakes.
“The animals I study continue to astonish me,” said Rick Shine of the University of Sydney. “I think it’s remarkable to find industrial melanism in organisms as different as moths and sea snakes!”
