Amazing stuff!
"... The trick may be losing the genes that produce ghrelin, a key hormone that regulates appetite, digestion, and fat storage.
The team scanned the genomes of 112 species, seeking changes in the DNA that makes ghrelin, dubbed the “hunger hormone ” because it was once thought to be the key to obesity in humans.
In snakes, chameleons, and toadhead agamas, ghrelin genes were either missing or so warped by mutations they could no longer encode the hormone, the scientists found. When the researchers looked at MBOAT4, an enzyme that makes ghrelin function, they found that it too was lost in snakes, chameleons, and the agamas.
Losing ghrelin and MBOAT4 may have been part of how these ambush predators adapted to a boom-and-bust feeding schedule. Normally, ghrelin can help the body turn fat into energy when food is scarce. Without ghrelin and MBOAT4, the reptiles may be able to hold onto their energy reserves for longer, letting them persist in low power mode for months to a year between meals. ..."
Gut molecule that blocks ‘hunger hormone' may spur new treatments for diabetes, anorexia (no public access)
Loss of ‘hunger hormone’ has made snakes masters of fasting (no public access)
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