Ontogenetic shifts, trophic differentiation, and predator–prey size relationships in Oxyrhopus false coral snakes from Bahia, Brazil

Abstract Although snakes of the genus Oxyrhopus are generally regarded as opportunistic predators, the relative roles of interspecific dietary differentiation, ontogenetic variation, and predator morphology in their feeding ecology remain poorly understood. We analyzed the diet of 253 preserved specimens representing four Oxyrhopus species from Bahia, Brazil. Dietary composition was quantified using the Index of Relative Importance (%IRI), trophic overlap was estimated using Pianka’s niche overlap index, and ontogenetic and morphological variation in prey use were evaluated using multivariate and linear models. Species differed in dietary composition and generally showed low trophic overlap, indicating differences in prey use among species. Juveniles consumed predominantly lizards, whereas adults incorporated proportionally more mammals and birds. Prey size increased with snake body size, whereas ontogenetic stage itself was not consistently associated with prey size. Head width was positively associated with prey width, indicating a relationship between predator cranial dimensions and prey dimensions. Because specimens were collected across different localities and were not necessarily syntopic, the observed differences should not be interpreted as direct evidence of local resource partitioning or competition. Overall, our results highlight interspecific and ontogenetic variation in prey use and provide a comparative assessment of dietary patterns and predator–prey size relationships in Oxyrhopus from Bahia. Acknowledgements We express our gratitude to A. Argôlo, T. Medeiros, Juliana, and E. Rios from the Museum of Zoology at the State University of Santa Cruz for generously providing access to the Oxyrhopus specimens under their care. Additionally, we appreciate their assistance in identifying certain dietary items. Funding PD was supported by a doctoral fellowship from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (FAPESB), Brazil. No additional funding was received for the development of this study. Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Ethics declarations Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Additional information Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Rights and permissions Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. About this article Cite this article De la Quintana, P., Solé, M. Ontogenetic shifts, trophic differentiation, and predator–prey size relationships in Oxyrhopus false coral snakes from Bahia, Brazil. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-74333-6 Received: Accepted: Published: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-74333-6