Rarest snake in North America photographed after choking to death on giant centipede

One of America's rarest snakes has been found dead in Florida, after scientists say it choked on a giant centipede.

The rim rock crowned snake (Tantilla oolitica) was found by a hiker in the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, an island in the Florida Keys off the south coast of The Sunshine State. This was the first time the snake has been seen for four years, the Florida Museum of Natural History said in a press release.

"While this would normally be cause for celebration among conservationists, the snake sighting was more a source of incredulous awe than anything else,' the release reads.

The snake was found dead by a hiker locked in lifeless combat with a giant centipede it  managed to swallow halfway.  

The snake was initially found on the side of a trail by the hiker, who alerted park staff. The specimen quickly found its way to the Florida Museum, where researchers hoped to ascertain the exact cause of death.

The fatal duel marks the first time that scientists have observed the snake’s eating habits, scientist said.

Closely related species are known to have a preference for centipedes, the release continues, but the Rim rock crowned snake  is "so rarely seen that, until now, no one had any definite idea of what it ate."

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Researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History reported they created CT scans of the interlocked pair and published their results this Sunday in the journal Ecology.

“I was amazed when I first saw the photos,” said co-author Coleman Sheehy, the Florida Museum’s herpetology collection manager. “It’s extremely rare to find specimens that died while eating prey, and given how rare this species is, I would never have predicted finding something like this. We were all totally flabbergasted.”

'The final blow'

Given that the centipede was one-third the size of the snake, the most obvious explanation would be it died by asphyxiation, researchers reported. But snakes are known for gorging on prey much larger than themselves.

Unlike jaws in humans and most other vertebrates, which are directly attached to the skull, snake jaws are held in place by flexible ligaments and muscles that allow them to wrap their heads around their food.

Sheehy said researchers performed a digital autopsy, which allowed them to examine the centipede and snake, including its injuries and gut contents, without ever picking up a scalpel. They found a small wound on the snake’s side, the release continues, likely imparted by the centipede’s venomous pinchers.

"Snakes that commonly dine on centipedes are thought to have some measure of resistance to their mélange of caustic venom, but that assumption has yet to be definitively demonstrated," Sheehy said.

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The bite seemed to cause some internal bleeding, Sheehy said, but neither that nor the toxin were enough to deter the snake from killing and partially swallowing its prey.

"Instead, the final blow seems to have been dealt by the centipede’s size. Close inspection of the CT scans show the snake’s trachea was pinched at the approximate location where the centipede’s circumference was the largest, cutting off its air supply."

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.