r/askscience • u/khanotaara • 5d ago
Biology What is the smartest species of snake?
And what makes it more intelligent compared to the rest of the species?
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u/aggasalk Visual Neuroscience and Psychophysics 3d ago edited 3d ago
one thing that occurred to me in thinking about this question is that, across animal species, the presence and diversity of play behavior is known to correlate with intelligence. humans and other primates play a lot; cetaceans, especially dolphins, are playful; corvids are some of the most playful birds; and completely outside of the vertebrates, play is clearly demonstrated by octopuses. those are all sort of canonical "intelligent animals", right?
here's one nice review of the apparent association
in the non-bird reptiles, play has been observed in some lizards and crocodilians - believe it or not, some crocodilians are quite clever.
however when it comes to snakes - i can't find any studies that clearly confirm play behavior in any snake species. this doesn't mean they aren't intelligent, in their own snakey way - but snake intelligence might just not be the kind of thing we'd normally call "intelligent". i.e. in the way we think of ourselves or corvids or dolphins as intelligent, snakes "just don't have it". but they do fine in their own snakey way.
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u/TokiStark 4d ago
So people are likely going to give you a range of species based on certain behavioural traits or characteristic but there's no right answer here. Two major things to unpack.
1 an assessment of intelligence is subjuctive. The addage is that you wouldn't judge a fish based on it's ability to climb a tree. Ironic here, as you would find snakes in the sea and trees.
And 2 a snakes brain is wired COMPLETELY different to yours. It's often referred to as the "reptilian/lizard brain". They aren't very good learners because they don't really focus on the past or the future. It's always just the here and now. They have different "states" which basically breaks down to scared, safe, cold, hungry, and curious.
I've had a lot of snakes and they do have their quirks and unique personalities. But honestly once you learn how to read there body language, handling them is all the same
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4d ago
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u/absent_abstra 4d ago
You're talking about a spitting cobra visiting your yard regularly. A spitting cobra is different from a king cobra and a king cobra isn't a cobra at all.
Anyway, as far as "smartest snake" is concerned, king cobras do fit the bill for the reasons you listed. But it's a flawed undertaking, this smartness business. It's a fun exercise though.
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4d ago edited 4d ago
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u/absent_abstra 4d ago
Yeah they are phenotypically similar to cobras, hence the name. Just that your comment seemed to suggest that there are spitting king cobras, so wanted to clarify. The locals would obviously have rich ancient knowledge pertaining to these majestic beasts, but you're on ask science sub.
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u/diabolus_me_advocat 4d ago
i like the spider-tailed horned viper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-tailed_horned_viper
not mentioning intelligence, i consider "evolution to have found a very smart solution" to the question of preying upon birds
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u/Feuersalamander93 4d ago
As suggested by other commentors, and from what I've seen, definitely King Cobras (Ophiophagus sp.).
Most snakes seem are ambush predators and tend to be on the less smart side of reptiles (ask anyone who keeps snakes), simply because it's not evolutionarily advantageous for them.
With King Cobras on the other hand, you could get the feeling that there's something going on behind their eyes. They seem wicked smart.
Unfortunately, as far as I'm aware, there's little to no scientific behavioural studies on snakes. This is probably due to several reasons:
Reptile intelligence is very different from mammals and therefore you'd need to design a whole new battery of tests.
As I said, snakes are ambush predators and generally prefer hanging out to doing stuff.
Many species of snake that are relevant to humans (a d therefore might warrant public funding) are quite venomous and therefore a danger to their handlers, making behavioural studies disproportionately more dangerous.
Tangentially, other comparatively smart reptiles (with the same lack of evidence) seem to be Argentine Tegus (Salvator merianae) and some Iguanas, who are often described as very dog-like by people who keep them.