Snake hair: biological explanation of a belief
Abstract
Snakes are animals that often appear in various myths, tales, and stories. For example, in Zaachila, Oaxaca, people believe that when the tail hair of equine or bovine animals, or even human hair, falls down and remains for a certain time period in puddles or streams, it has the ability to transform into snakes. We consider that this belief originated because the natives have confused mammal hairs with horsehair worms, which inhabit in such water bodies, those who in turnare often associated with water snakes that live in this region. The snake species whose origin is particularly related to mammal hairs are Thamno phisbogerti , T. chrysocephalus, and T. cyrtopsis, which are common to the region. Even though this belief does not idolize nor reject the snakes, many human beings often have the tendency of killing these animals due to safety reasons, making it an atavistic reaction, paired up with the lack of knowledge in the biology of these animals.
Downloads
References
Bermejo Barrera, J. C., Mitología y mitos de las Hispania prerromana JI, Ediciones Akal, S. A., Madrid, 1986.
Bolek, M. G., Schmidt-Rhaesa, A., de Villalobos, L. C. y Hanelt B., Phylum Nematomorpha. en: Thorp and Covich's Freshwater Invertebrates-Volume 1. (Thorp, J. H. y Rogers, D. C. Eds.), Elsevier Inc., London, pp:303-326, 2014.
Casas-Andreu, G., Mitos, leyendas y realidades de los reptiles de México. Ciencia Ergo Sum 7(3), pp. 286-291, 2000.
Charro, A., Serpientes: ni dioses ni demonios, Revista de Folklore, 283, pp. 3-12, 2004.
Eliade, M., Tratado de historia de las religiones: morfología y dialéctica de lo sagrado, Ediciones Cristiandad, 1974.
Fita, D. S., Neto, E. M. C. y Schiavetti, A., 'Off ensive 'snakes: cultural beliefs and practices related to snakebites in a Brazilian rural settlement. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 6, pp. 13.
Le, Q. V., Isbell, L. A., Matsumoto, J., Nguyen, M., Hori, E., Maior, R. S., Tran, A. H., Ono, T. y Nishijo, H., Pulvinar neurons reveal neurobiological detection of snakes, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(47),pp. 19000-19005, 2013.
Levi-Strauss, C.,El pensamiento salvaje. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, D. F., 1986.
Ponton, F., Otálora-Luna, F., Lefevre, T., Guerin, P. M., Lebarbenchon, C., Duneau, D., Biron, D. G. y Thomas, F .. Water-seeking behavior in worm-infected crickests and reversibility of parasitic manipulation, Behavioral Ecology, 22(2), pp. 392-400, 2011.
Rodríguez Lozano, A., El tío Gamarza y la historia del pelo-culebra, http://cienciaes.com/ulises/2011/05/03/el-tio-gamarza-y-1a-historia-del-pelo-culebra/ consultado 22 de octubre de 2017.
Rossman, D. A., Ford, N. B. y Seigel, R. A., The garter snakes. Evolution and Ecology, University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.
Sánchez Expósito, l., De culebras y mujeres: aportaciones a una leyenda extremeña, Gobierno de Extremadura, Consejo de EducaciónyCultura,2012.
