Caudal Luring in the Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius barbouri

Jackson, James F.; Martin, David L.

doi:10.2307/1444491

Cited by 11 publications

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“…Caudal luring has evolved and/or been lost many times within snake phylogeny (Heatwole & Davison 1976; Murphy, Carpenter & Gillingham 1978; Jackson & Martin 1980; Radcliffe, Chiszar & Smith 1980; Sazima 1991; Sazima & Puorto 1993; Leal & Thomas 1994; Tiebout 1997; Simon, Whittaker & Shine 1999; Parellada & Santos 2002) and many snake taxa that caudal‐lure exhibit significant geographic, ontogenetic and sex‐related variation in dietary composition (Rabatsky & Waterman 2005; Shine & Wall 2005), further enhancing our ability to tease apart causal influences on lure structure and function. There may also be great variation in the specific abiotic (thermal, hydric) conditions that stimulate luring (Rabatsky & Farrell 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In several of these lineages, the predators possess modified body parts that function to lure prey close enough to seize. Well‐known examples include the luminous organs of deep‐sea anglerfishes (Gudger 1945) and carnivorous fireflies (Lloyd 1965), the modified tongues of alligator snapping turtles (Drummond & Gordon 1979), tails of snakes (Henderson 1970; Greene & Campbell 1972; Heatwole & Davison 1976; Jackson & Martin 1980) and toes of frogs and toads (Murphy 1976; Radcliffe et al . 1986; Hagman & Shine 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tails of enticement: caudal luring by an ambush‐foraging snake (Acanthophis praelongus, Elapidae)

2008

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Summary 1.Ambush foragers that attract prey via luring provide an opportunity to examine how a predator's behaviour influences its dietary composition. 2. Australian death adders ( Acanthophis praelongus , Elapidae) are heavy-bodied ambush foragers with broad diets; the snake's modified tail-tip is waved to attract prey. Female adders have shorter tails than males, but longer terminal spines. 3. We videotaped captive snakes interacting with potential prey items (lizards and frogs) to document which prey types elicit luring, and which respond by approaching the lure. To clarify prey responses, we controlled lure size and colour by attaching snake tails (removed from dead adders) to a machine that waved the tail-tip in a manner similar to a live snake. 4. Individual adders differed in luring behaviour, and the type of tail-tip movement (undulatory vs. straightline) influenced rates and duration of luring bouts. 5. Lure movement was essential to attract lizards, and small lures were more effective than larger ones; the greater effectiveness of small lures may explain why caudal luring tends to be more common in juvenile snakes than in larger conspecifics. 6. Death adders lured more vigorously to lizards than to frogs, and lizards were more likely to approach the lure. Thus, luring in death adders mostly enables these snakes to capture lizards; frogs (also an important dietary component in the field) must be caught another way. 7. An ambush predator's overall dietary composition, as well as ontogenetic changes in that composition, thus depend upon both lure characteristics and prey responses.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tails of enticement: caudal luring by an ambush‐foraging snake (Acanthophis praelongus, Elapidae)

2008

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“…The luring of prey by snakes has been associated primarily with the use of the tail, a behavior termed caudal luring (e.g., Neill, 1960;Greene and Campbell, 1972;Heatwole and Davison, 1976;Jackson and Martin, 1980;Schuett et al, 1984;Chizar et al, 1990). Greene and Campbell (1972) noted that caudal luring was a form of mimicry, which Schuett et al (1984) called feeding mimicry.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In fact two reviews of the behavioral ecology of snakes make no mention of a lingual-The luring of prey by snakes has been associated primarily with the use of the tail, a behavior termed caudal luring (e.g., Neill, 1960;Greene and Campbell, 1972;Heatwole and Davison, 1976;Jackson and Martin, 1980;Schuett et al, 1984;Chizar et al, 1990). In fact two reviews of the behavioral ecology of snakes make no mention of a lingual-The luring of prey by snakes has been associated primarily with the use of the tail, a behavior termed caudal luring (e.g., Neill, 1960;Greene and Campbell, 1972;Heatwole and Davison, 1976;Jackson and Martin, 1980;Schuett et al, 1984;Chizar et al, 1990).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%