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Jurestovsky DJ, Joy SP, Astley HC. Blood python (Python brongersmai) strike kinematics and forces are robust to variations in substrate geometry. J Exp Biol 2023; 226:286532. [PMID: 36628924 PMCID: PMC10086539 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.244456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Snake strikes are some of the most rapid accelerations in terrestrial vertebrates. Generating rapid body accelerations requires high ground reaction forces, but on flat surfaces snakes must rely on static friction to prevent slip. We hypothesize that snakes may be able to take advantage of structures in the environment to prevent their body from slipping, potentially allowing them to generate faster and more forceful strikes. To test this hypothesis, we captured high-speed video and forces from defensive strikes of juvenile blood pythons (Python brongersmai) on a platform that was either open on all sides or with two adjacent walls opposite the direction of the strike. Contrary to our predictions, snakes maintained high performance on open platforms by imparting rearward momentum to the posterior body and tail. This compensatory behavior increases robustness to changes in their strike conditions and could allow them to exploit variable environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derek J Jurestovsky
- Department of Biology, University of Akron, 235 Carroll St, Akron, OH 44325, USA.,Biomechanics Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Sidarth P Joy
- Department of Biology, University of Akron, 235 Carroll St, Akron, OH 44325, USA
| | - Henry C Astley
- Department of Biology, University of Akron, 235 Carroll St, Akron, OH 44325, USA
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Teshera MS, Clark RW. Strike-Induced Chemosensory Searching in Reptiles: A Review. HERPETOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS 2021. [DOI: 10.1655/0733-1347-35.1.28] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mark S. Teshera
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
| | - Rulon W. Clark
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
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Whitford MD, Freymiller GA, Clark RW. Managing predators: The influence of kangaroo rat antipredator displays on sidewinder rattlesnake hunting behavior. Ethology 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Malachi D. Whitford
- Department of Biology San Diego State University San Diego California
- Ecology Graduate Group University of California Davis California
| | - Grace A. Freymiller
- Department of Biology San Diego State University San Diego California
- Department of Biology University of California Riverside California
| | - Rulon W. Clark
- Department of Biology San Diego State University San Diego California
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Bleicher SS, Kotler BP, Shalev O, Dixon A, Embar K, Brown JS. Divergent behavior amid convergent evolution: A case of four desert rodents learning to respond to known and novel vipers. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0200672. [PMID: 30125293 PMCID: PMC6101362 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2018] [Accepted: 07/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Desert communities world-wide are used as natural laboratories for the study of convergent evolution, yet inferences drawn from such studies are necessarily indirect. Here, we brought desert organisms together (rodents and vipers) from two deserts (Mojave and Negev). Both predators and prey in the Mojave have adaptations that give them competitive advantage compared to their middle-eastern counterparts. Heteromyid rodents of the Mojave, kangaroo rats and pocket mice, have fur-lined cheek pouches that allow them to carry larger loads of seeds under predation risk compared to gerbilline rodents of the Negev Deserts. Sidewinder rattlesnakes have heat-sensing pits, allowing them to hunt better on moonless nights when their Negev sidewinding counterpart, the Saharan horned vipers, are visually impaired. In behavioral-assays, we used giving-up density (GUD) to gauge how each species of rodent perceived risk posed by known and novel snakes. We repeated this for the same set of rodents at first encounter and again two months later following intensive "natural" exposure to both snake species. Pre-exposure, all rodents identified their evolutionarily familiar snake as a greater risk than the novel one. However, post-exposure all identified the heat-sensing sidewinder rattlesnake as a greater risk. The heteromyids were more likely to avoid encounters with, and discern the behavioral difference among, snakes than their gerbilline counterparts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonny Shlomo Bleicher
- Tumamoc People and Habitat, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States of America
- Mitrani Department for Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Sde-Boker, Israel
- Department of Biological Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Burt P. Kotler
- Mitrani Department for Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Sde-Boker, Israel
| | - Omri Shalev
- Mitrani Department for Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Sde-Boker, Israel
| | - Austin Dixon
- Mitrani Department for Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Sde-Boker, Israel
| | - Keren Embar
- Mitrani Department for Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Sde-Boker, Israel
| | - Joel S. Brown
- Department of Biological Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
- Department of Integrated Mathematical Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Research Center, Tampa, FL, United States of America
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Freymiller GA, Whitford MD, Higham TE, Clark RW. Recent interactions with snakes enhance escape performance of desert kangaroo rats (Rodentia: Heteromyidae) during simulated attacks. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blx091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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Unpredictability of escape trajectory explains predator evasion ability and microhabitat preference of desert rodents. Nat Commun 2017; 8:440. [PMID: 28874728 PMCID: PMC5585173 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00373-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2016] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Mechanistically linking movement behaviors and ecology is key to understanding the adaptive evolution of locomotion. Predator evasion, a behavior that enhances fitness, may depend upon short bursts or complex patterns of locomotion. However, such movements are poorly characterized by existing biomechanical metrics. We present methods based on the entropy measure of randomness from Information Theory to quantitatively characterize the unpredictability of non-steady-state locomotion. We then apply the method by examining sympatric rodent species whose escape trajectories differ in dimensionality. Unlike the speed-regulated gait use of cursorial animals to enhance locomotor economy, bipedal jerboa (family Dipodidae) gait transitions likely enhance maneuverability. In field-based observations, jerboa trajectories are significantly less predictable than those of quadrupedal rodents, likely increasing predator evasion ability. Consistent with this hypothesis, jerboas exhibit lower anxiety in open fields than quadrupedal rodents, a behavior that varies inversely with predator evasion ability. Our unpredictability metric expands the scope of quantitative biomechanical studies to include non-steady-state locomotion in a variety of evolutionary and ecologically significant contexts.Biomechanical understanding of animal gait and maneuverability has primarily been limited to species with more predictable, steady-state movement patterns. Here, the authors develop a method to quantify movement predictability, and apply the method to study escape-related movement in several species of desert rodents.
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Whitford MD, Freymiller GA, Clark RW. Avoiding the serpent's tooth: predator–prey interactions between free-ranging sidewinder rattlesnakes and desert kangaroo rats. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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