Some #snakes lack the ‘#hunger #hormone.’ Experts are hungry to know why
The #gene for #ghrelin is missing in serpents, yet present in other fasting #reptiles
Evolutionary #geneticist Rui Pinto and colleagues stumbled on the discovery when comparing the #genomes of 112 reptile species, including snakes, crocodiles and chameleons, which they obtained from public database. Genes for ghrelin and its activating enzyme were absent in 32 snake species.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/snakes-lack-hunger-hormone-ghrelin
https://archive.ph/WvOHr
Some snakes lack the ‘hunger hormone.’ Experts are hungry to know why

The complex biology of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, has researchers wondering how its absence helps snakes last a long time with no food, if at all.

Science News