Observations on Maternal Behavior and Neonate Aggregation in the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox (Crotalidae)

Price, Andrew H.

doi:10.2307/3671770

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…First, communal birthing (e.g. rookeries), which occurs in other rattlesnakes and pitvipers (Graves & Duvall, , ), was not observed in the present study (Price, ; Schuett et al ., , ). Second, based on our DNA‐based (microsatellite) parentage analyses (R. W. Clark, G. W. Schuett, R. A. Repp & H.‐W.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

“…Our inspection of the literature on rattlesnakes and other live‐bearing snake species detected no studies similar to the present one, and only in rare cases is an environmental variable (temperature, rainfall) noted to be associated with the timing of birth. Estimates of parturition dates, however, are commonly reported in wild rattlesnakes (Klauber, ; Price, ; Martin, ; Graves & Duvall, ; Butler, Hull & Franz, ; Ashton & Patton, ; Diller & Wallace, ; Greene et al ., ; Holycross & Fawcett, ; Reiserer, Schuett & Earley, ; Setser et al ., ) and other live‐bearing snakes (Fitch, ; Ford & Seigel, ; Seigel, Ford & Mahrt, ; Seigel & Ford, ). Despite the fact that several of these studies were longitudinal and individual‐based ( sensu Clutton‐Brock & Sheldon, ), none provided a formal, hypothesis‐based analysis of rainfall or other environmental cues for the timing of birth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, several of these accounts were anecdotal and based on very small sample sizes (e.g. N = 1) or involved bringing females into captivity (Price, ; Butler et al ., ; Setser et al ., ). Nevertheless, other studies (Price, ; Greene et al ., ; Setser et al ., ) have implicated rainfall as a potential environmental cue for the timing of birth in rattlesnakes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In many snakes, neonates undergo their first shed (natal ecdysis) shortly after birth (Tu et al ., ; Agugliaro & Reinert, ). In most temperate rattlesnakes, including C. atrox (Price, ), the natal ecdysis occurs within 5–10 days after birth (Schuett et al ., , ; Greene et al ., ; Agugliaro & Reinert, ; Reiserer et al ., ) and maternal attendance and care commonly occur during this pre‐shed period (Greene et al ., ; Reiserer et al ., ; G. W. Schuett and R. A. Repp, unpubl. data).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Presumably, ecdysis problems in newborn snakes also would increase vulnerability to predation. Numerous studies have noted the vulnerability of pre‐shed neonate snakes to predators (Price, ; Butler et al ., ; Graves & Duvall, ; Greene et al ., ). A leading cause of dysecdysis in snakes and lizards is desiccation and insufficient ambient moisture (Harkewicz, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmentally cued parturition in a desert rattlesnake,Crotalus atrox

Schuett

Repp

Hoss

et al. 2013

Biol J Linn Soc Lond

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Embryonic development in animals is dynamically regulated by physiological, behavioural, and environmental factors (temperature, precipitation, humidity), which in turn influence the timing of birth or hatching. In the present study, we provide evidence that parturition in a large-bodied North American pitviper, the western diamond-backed rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox), is environmentally cued. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis of births coinciding with rainfall events during the second-half of the monsoon season (late July to mid September) using randomization modelling. Twenty-one adult females surgically implanted with radio-transmitters were tracked for extended periods from . From 2003to 2007, the 21 females gave birth to 38 litters, generating sufficient data to test our hypothesis. In all years, births were restricted to a 4-week period from 5 August to 7 September, which spanned between 6 and 19 days (mean ± SD, 15 ± 5.2 days). Most births (92.1%) occurred in August. Births were significantly associated with rainfall events in 2007, although births in 2003 and 2005 occurred closer to rain events than randomly generated births for respective years. However, when birth events across all 5 years were pooled, the model indicated a significance difference in mean rain-days versus random rain-days. Hence, births occurred more closely to rain events than random days. Other variables associated with monsoon events (increases in cloud cover and humidity; changes in barometric pressure) were not measured but constitute potential cues. The present research is the first long-term, individual-based radio-telemetric study of a snake species to investigate environmental cues related to parturition using procedures of randomization modelling.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmentally cued parturition in a desert rattlesnake,Crotalus atrox

Schuett

Repp

Hoss

et al. 2013

Biol J Linn Soc Lond

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Maternal brooding in the children’s python (Antaresia childreni) promotes egg water balance

2007

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Parental care provides considerable benefits to offspring and is widespread among animals, yet it is relatively uncommon among squamate reptiles (e.g., lizards and snakes). However, all pythonine snakes show extended maternal egg brooding with some species being facultatively endothermic. While facultative endothermy provides thermal benefits, the presence of brooding in non-endothermic species suggests other potential benefits of brooding. In this study we experimentally tested the functional significance of maternal brooding relative to water balance in the children's python, Antaresia childreni, a small species that does not exhibit facultative endothermy. Clutch evaporative water loss (EWL) was positively correlated with clutch mass and was much lower than expected values based on individual eggs. The conglomerate clutch behaved as a single unit with a decreasing surface area to volume ratio as clutch size increased. Maternal brooding had a dramatic impact on evaporation from eggs, reducing and possibly eliminating clutch EWL. In a separate experiment, we found that viability of unattended eggs is highly affected by humidity level, even in the narrow range from 75 to 100% relative humidity at 30.5 degrees C (20-33 mg m(-3 )absolute humidity). However, the presence of the brooding female ameliorated this sensitivity, as viability of brooded clutches at 75% relative humidity was higher than that of non-brooded eggs at either the same absolute humidity or at near-saturated conditions. Overall, these results demonstrate that brooding behavior strongly promotes egg water balance (and thus egg viability) in children's pythons.

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Turtles Are Not Just Walking Stones: Conspicuous Coloration and Sexual Selection in Freshwater Turtles

Brejcha

Kleisner

2015

Biosemiotics

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Observations on Maternal Behavior and Neonate Aggregation in the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox (Crotalidae)

Cited by 12 publications

References 9 publications

Environmentally cued parturition in a desert rattlesnake,Crotalus atrox

Environmentally cued parturition in a desert rattlesnake,Crotalus atrox

Maternal brooding in the children’s python (Antaresia childreni) promotes egg water balance

Turtles Are Not Just Walking Stones: Conspicuous Coloration and Sexual Selection in Freshwater Turtles

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