You know how "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." I wouldn't trade my collection, but I sure admire a lot of the different snakes on this forum. Don't know where I'd put them all, but one can dream .

There are probably just as many exceptions to the size of adult:size of offspring observation that James made, but I think we notice quirks like that more often because they're so remarkable. I lot of the research on these issues (fecundity rates) deals with the amount of energy reserves that the mother has before becoming gravid and of course their capacity to ovulate.

Also ecologists talk about whether a species is an "r-select species" or a "k-select species." The r-select species maximize their fecundity "rate" but provide minimal parental care while k-select species produce fewer offspring but invest more parental care into them. As a result fewer k-select species die as neonates. The r-select species are normally good at colonizing new areas, but they suffer high mortality rates among the young.

Rick