Body size and seasonal body condition in two small coexisting desert snake species, the Saharan sand viper (Cerastes vipera) and the crowned leafnose (Lytorhynchus diadema)

Sivan, Jaim; Kam, Michael; Hadad, Shlomo; Degen, A. Allan; Rosenstrauch, Avi

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.10.013

Cited by 11 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(63 reference statements)

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“…4), as has been documented in other colubrid snakes 18 . Females lay 3-5 eggs in the sand in June -July 53 and young hatch synchronously in August 41 . During the current study, we observed three events of egg laying, all in late June.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…capture and measurements. Random scans of the area were made on foot from dawn to dusk to identify the typical lateral weaving serpentine tracks of L. diadema 41,52 . Tracks were followed and the snakes were captured by hand.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Snakes were handled for less than 5 min to complete the measurements and then were released at the place of capture. On the bases of SVL and month of capture, L. diadema were classified as neonates, juveniles and adults 41 ; only adults were included in this study. Re-capture of the same individual at the study site is low; based on marked individuals at the same site in a previous study, less than 5% were re-captured within the same month (unpublished data).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). This colubrid species is a terrestrial dweller that possesses sexual dimorphism in both body length and TL and, therefore, is suitable to test our predictions 41 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Relative tail length correlates with body condition in male but not in female crowned leafnose snakes (Lytorhynchus diadema)

Sivan

Hadad²,

Tesler³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Reproductive success is the ultimate measure of individual quality; however, it is difficult to determine in free-living animals. therefore, indirect measures that are related to reproduction are generally employed. in snakes, males typically possess longer tails than females and this sexual size dimorphism in tail length (tL) has generally been attributed to the importance of the tail in mating and reproduction. Thus, intra-sexual differences in tail length, specifically within males, were hypothesized to reflect individual quality. We used a body condition index (BCI) as a measure of quality in snakes and predicted that tail length would be correlated with BCI in males. We tested our prediction by determining BCI in the free-ranging adult male and female crowned leafnose snake (Lytorhynchus diadema), a colubrid species that inhabits mainly desert sand dunes. the relative tL was correlated positively and significantly to BCI in males (F 1,131 = 11.05; r 2 adj = 0.07; P < 0.01) but not in females, thus supporting our prediction. This is the first time that the relationship between TL and body condition was tested in a free-ranging species. In addition, sexual size dimorphism of TL increased intra-specifically with body size, which was also found in interspecific analyses following Rensch's rule. Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) occurs in many species of invertebrate and vertebrate taxa 1,2. In general, males are larger than females in bird and mammal species 3,4 , whereas females are larger than males in terrestrial vertebrate ectotherms 5,6. According to Rensch's rule, when males are the larger sex, SSD increases with size; 1,4 however, when females are the larger sex, SSD decreases with size 1,7. Although these trends seem contradictory, they both reflect greater variance in males than in females 8. A number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain these evolutionary interspecific trends including sexual selection and mating success, fecundity selection favoring large females, and natural selection for resource partitioning 8-11. Sexual size dimorphism has also been observed in lengths of appendages such as in tails. In most snake species, males have relatively longer tails than females. The reason for this difference between sexes was initially explained structurally, as males possess a hemipenis in an elongated pocket at the base of the tail 12,13. Several hypotheses for the evolution of sexual differences in tail length (TL) have been suggested. Interspecific analyses of tail and body lengths, as well as clutch mass in colubrid snakes, supported both the morphological constraint hypothesis and the female reproductive hypothesis. Consequently, these analyses indicated a male-biased TL dimorphism in taxa having relatively short tails 14. In addition, the TL was found to be associated with gravitational habitat categories, where terrestrial snake species have shorter tails than arboreal species. This hypothesis was supported in females using 226 snake species in 139 genera and 15 families 15. Tails of snakes are...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). This colubrid species is a terrestrial dweller that possesses sexual dimorphism in both body length and TL and, therefore, is suitable to test our predictions 41 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relative tail length correlates with body condition in male but not in female crowned leafnose snakes (Lytorhynchus diadema)

Sivan

Hadad²,

Tesler³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…Additionally, sympatric species are predicted to exhibit similar body condition when they have similar ecology, because they share similar interspecific interactions and selective pressures (i.e. Yom-Tov & Geffen 2006, Koyama et al 2015, Sivan et al 2015. For example, closely related species of garter snakes with highly overlapping ranges in Mexico, Thamnophis melanogaster and T. eques, show similar patterns of neonate body condition as a function of date of birth (Manjarrez & San-Roman-Apolonio 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Supplemental Information 1: Raw Data of Garter Snakes in Central Mexico

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Background. Geographic variation in body size and condition can reveal differential local adaptation to resource availability or climatic factors. Body size and condition are related to fitness in garter snakes (Thamnophis), thus good body condition may increase survival, fecundity in females, and mating success in males. Sympatric species are predicted to exhibit similar body condition when they experience similar environmental conditions. We focused on interspecific and geographical variation in body size and condition in three sympatric Mexican garter snakes from the highlands of Central Mexico. Methods. We assessed SVL, mass, and body condition (obtained from Major axis linear regression of lntransformed body mass on ln-transformed SVL) in adults and juveniles of both sexes of Thamnophis eques, T. melanogaster, and T. scalaris sampled at different locations and over a 20-year period. Results. We provide a heterogeneous pattern of sexual and ontogenic reproductive status variations of body size and condition among local populations. Each garter snake species shows locations with good and poor body condition; juvenile snakes show similar body condition between populations, adults show varying body condition between populations, and adults also show sexual differences in body condition. We discuss variations in body condition as possibly related to the snakes' life cycle differences.

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Seasonal biotic and abiotic factors affecting hunting strategy in free-living Saharan sand vipers, Cerastes vipera

Horesh

Sivan

Rosenstrauch

et al. 2017

Behavioural Processes

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Body size and seasonal body condition in two small coexisting desert snake species, the Saharan sand viper (Cerastes vipera) and the crowned leafnose (Lytorhynchus diadema)

Cited by 11 publications

References 39 publications

Relative tail length correlates with body condition in male but not in female crowned leafnose snakes (Lytorhynchus diadema)

Relative tail length correlates with body condition in male but not in female crowned leafnose snakes (Lytorhynchus diadema)

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Seasonal biotic and abiotic factors affecting hunting strategy in free-living Saharan sand vipers, Cerastes vipera

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