Are Snakes Deaf?

Have you ever tried to walk up to a snake in the wild, only to have it immediately slither away? If you have, then it’s easy to believe that the snake heard you approaching and, as a result, made a hasty retreat. However, this is only partially true. Snakes do not hear in the same way that we understand the sense.

Most other reptiles possess an eardrum an an inner ear structure that allows them to hear much the same way that humans and other animals do. However, snakes do not have this feature. According to some evolutionary experts, this is because snakes, being the ground-dwellers that they are, do not have any need for traditional hearing.

That is not to say that snakes cannot detect sound. The method by which snakes ‘hear’ is referred to as bone conductive hearing. They pick up even the subtlest of vibrations through their jaw bones, and these vibrations are transmitted to a pair of cochlear, or snail-shaped, structures in the snake’s head. Humans have these same structures in their own ears. When vibrations hit these structures, they are transmitted along nerves into the brain where they are interpreted as sound. In effect, a snake’s jaw serves as its ‘ears’.

Compared to a human’s ears, however, a snake’s auditory structures are many times more sensitive. They are able to detect sounds ranging from an elephant charging to a tiny mouse creeping along the grass. They can even detect the hissing of other snakes, which may play an important role in the mating habits of some species. This incredible level of sensitivity makes them swift and effective hunters, which is part of why they have been around for more than 112 million years.