Propulsive action of a snake pushing against a single site: Its combined analysis

Gasc, Jean‐Pierre; Cattaert, Daniel; Chasserat, C.; Clarac, François

doi:10.1002/jmor.1052010310

Cited by 39 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Unilateral activity of the epaxial muscles, as well as at least one hypaxial muscle, contributes to lateral bending during snake locomotion (Jayne, 1988a,b;Gasc et al, 1989;Moon & Gans, 1998). However, epaxial muscle activity patterns in other behaviours allows some speculation about the roles of these muscles in constriction.…”

Section: Muscle Activity and Force Exertionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mechanics and muscular control of constriction in gopher snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus) and a king snake (Lampropeltis getula)

Moon

2000

Journal of Zoology

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Constriction of prey by gopher snakes Pituophis melanoleucus and king snakes Lampropeltis getula is highly variable in posture, muscular activity and force exertion. These snakes typically use lateral bends of the anterior trunk to wind the body into a vertical coil around the prey. Three common constriction postures are fully encircling loops that form a coil, partially encircling loops, and non-encircling loops that pinion the prey. Initial tightening of a coil occurs by winding or pressing the loops tighter to reduce the diameter of the coil. The epaxial muscles are highly active during striking and coil formation and intermittently active during sustained constriction. These results refute the hypothesis of a mechanical constraint on constriction in snakes with elongate epaxial muscles. Constricting gopher and king snakes can detect muscular, ventilatory and circulatory movements in rodent prey. In response to simulated heartbeats or ventilation in mice, the snakes twitch visibly, recruit epaxial muscle activity, and increase constriction pressure temporarily, but then quickly relax. Muscular activity and constriction pressure are increased most and sustained longest in response to muscular struggling in prey. Although muscle activity and pressure exertion are intermittent, the constriction posture is maintained until the prey has been completely still for several seconds; thus, a snake can reapply pressure in response to any circulatory, ventilatory or muscular movement by the prey. The pressures of 6.1±30.9 kPa (46±232 mm Hg) exerted on small mammal prey by constricting snakes range from about half to over twice a mouse's systolic blood pressure, and are probably 10 times larger than the venous pressure. These high pressures probably kill mammalian prey by inducing immediate circulatory and cardiac arrest, rather than by suffocation alone.

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Section: Muscle Activity and Force Exertionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mechanics and muscular control of constriction in gopher snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus) and a king snake (Lampropeltis getula)

Moon

2000

Journal of Zoology

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“…Our video images and methods were not able to clarify additional details such as how hard the snakes pressed against a peg or whether the body wall had a curvature different from the mid-dorsal line as has been described for the terrestrial locomotion past pegs of some other species of snakes that are much heavier than the snakes in our study (Gasc et al, 1989;Moon and Gans, 1998). Thus, whether a peg was considered a 'propulsive' peg was based only on its position relative to the body of the snake and the direction of movement (Fig.1).…”

Section: Image Acquisition and Analysismentioning

confidence: 80%

Incline and peg spacing have interactive effects on the arboreal locomotor performance and kinematics of brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis)

Jayne

Baum

Byrnes

2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYMany animals move using lateral undulations, but snakes are noteworthy for using this type of locomotion in an unusual diversity of environments, including trees in which both the spacing and orientation of branches vary considerably. Despite branches providing discrete locations for snakes to generate propulsive forces during lateral undulation, the consequences of branch spacing for the locomotion of snakes are poorly understood. Hence, we determined maximal speeds and kinematics of an arboreal snake (Boiga irregularis) crawling on horizontal and vertical cylinders with pegs that simulated different spacing between secondary branches. Peg spacing, perch orientation and their two-way interaction term had widespread, significant effects on both performance and kinematics. For the horizontal surfaces, maximal locomotor speed occurred with intermediate peg spacing, and it was nearly twice as fast as for both the smallest and largest peg spacings. By contrast, the locomotor speed of snakes on the vertical surfaces was unaffected by peg spacing, and was uniformly slower than that for the horizontal surfaces. For both perch orientations, the number of pegs touched by the snake decreased as peg spacing increased, and while touching only one peg the snakes crawled with apparent ease and steady speed. The snakes crawled vertically with only one peg as quickly as they did using 2-10 pegs. Pegs on a horizontal cylinder are probably important both for propulsion of snakes and prevention of longaxis rolling, whereas pegs protruding from vertical cylinders and those protruding from horizontal planar surfaces are probably used almost exclusively for propulsion.

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“…For example, it may work in concert with the SLS and SLI in locomotion (Gasc et al. ). The last muscle that warrants brief discussion is the LC.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the location, size, and insertion of this muscle, it likely aids in stiffening or adduction and retraction of the ribs and in lateral flexion of the vertebral column. For example, it may work in concert with the SLS and SLI in locomotion (Gasc et al 1989). The last muscle that warrants brief discussion is the LC.…”

Section: Descriptive Anatomymentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative axial myology in two constricting snakes:Lampropeltis holbrookiandPantherophis obsoletus

Penning

2018

Journal of Anatomy

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A snake's body represents an extreme degree of elongation with immense muscle complexity. Snakes have approximately 25 different muscles on each side of the body at each vertebra. These muscles serially repeat, overlap, interconnect, and rarely insert parallel to the vertebral column. The angled muscles mean that simple measurements of anatomical cross-sectional area (ACSA, perpendicular to the long-axis of the body) serve only as proxies for the primary determinant of muscle force, physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA, area perpendicular to the muscle fibers). Here, I describe and quantify the musculature of two intraguild constrictors: kingsnakes (Lampropeltis holbrooki) and ratsnakes (Pantherophis obsoletus) whose predation performance varies considerably. Kingsnakes can produce significantly higher constriction pressures compared with ratsnakes of similar size. In both snakes, I provide qualitative descriptions, detail previously undescribed complexity, identify a new lateral muscle, and provide some of the first quantitative measures of individual muscle and whole-body PCSA. Furthermore, I compare measurements of ACSA with measurements of PCSA. There was no significant difference in PCSA of muscles between kingsnakes and ratsnakes. There is, however, a strong relationship between ACSA and PCSA measurements. I could not identify a significant difference in musculature between kingsnakes and ratsnakes that explains their different levels of constriction performance. Unmeasured components of muscle function, such as endurance and force production, might account for differences in performance between two species with similar muscle structure.

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Propulsive action of a snake pushing against a single site: Its combined analysis

Cited by 39 publications

References 9 publications

The mechanics and muscular control of constriction in gopher snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus) and a king snake (Lampropeltis getula)

The mechanics and muscular control of constriction in gopher snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus) and a king snake (Lampropeltis getula)

Incline and peg spacing have interactive effects on the arboreal locomotor performance and kinematics of brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis)

Quantitative axial myology in two constricting snakes:Lampropeltis holbrookiandPantherophis obsoletus

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