Feeding ecology of the Great Basin Rattlesnake (Crotalus lutosus, Viperidae)

Canadian Journal of Zoology

Volumn 86, Issue 7, 2008, Pages 723-734

  Glaudas, Xavier ^a   Jezkova, Tereza ^a   Rodríguez Robles, Javier A ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

FEEDING BEHAVIOR; FEEDING ECOLOGY; FEEDING GROUND; GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION; LIZARD; ONTOGENY; SEASONAL VARIATION; SNAKE; TEMPORAL VARIATION;

ANURA; AVES; CROTALUS; CROTALUS OREGANUS LUTOSUS; MAMMALIA; RODENTIA; SERPENTES; SQUAMATA; VIPERIDAE;

EID: 47249147958     PISSN: 00084301     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1139/Z08-049     Document Type: Article

References (94)

1. Aldridge, R.D., and Duvall, D. 2002. Evolution of the mating season in the pitvipers of North America. Herpetol. Monogr. 16: 1-25. doi:10.1655/0733-1347(2002)016[0001:EOTMSI]2.0.CO;2.
2. Arnold, S.J. 1977. Polymorphism and geographic variation in the feeding behavior of the garter snake Thamnophis elegans. Science (Washington, D.C.), 197: 676-678. doi:10.1126/science.197.4304.676. PMID:17776270.
3. Arnold, S.J. 1993. Foraging theory and prey size - predator size relations in snakes. In Snakes: ecology and behavior. Edited by R.A. Seigel and J.T. Collins. McGraw-Hill, New York. pp. 87-115.
4. Ashton, K.G., and de Queiroz, A. 2001. Molecular systematics of the western rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis (Viperidae), with comments on the utility of the D-loop in phylogenetic studies of snakes. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 21: 176-189. doi:10.1006/mpev.2001.1013. PMID:11697914.
5. Austin, D., Bowen, W.D., and McMillan, J.I. 2004. Intraspecific variation in movement patterns: modeling individual behaviour in a large marine predator. Oikos, 105: 15-30. doi:10.1111/j.0030-1299.1999.12730.x.
6. Cadle, J.E., and Greene, H.W. 1993. Phylogenetic patterns, biogeography, and the ecological structure of Neotropical snake assemblages. In Species diversity in ecological communities: historical and geographical perspectives. Edited by R.E. Ricklefs and D. Schluter. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. pp. 281-293.
7. Chiaraviglio, M., and Bertona, M. 2007. Reproduction and thermoregulation are principal factors that influence habitat selection in the Argentine boa constrictor (Boa constrictor occidentalis). In Biology of the boas and pythons. Edited by R.W. Henderson and R. Powell. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah. pp. 76-87.
8. Christians, J.K. 2002. Avian egg size: variation within species and inflexibility within individuals. Biol. Rev. Camb. Philos. Soc. 77: 1-26. doi:10.1017/S1464793101005784. PMID:11911371.
9. Clark, R.W. 2002. Diet of the timber rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus. J. Herpetol. 36: 494-499. doi:10.1670/0022-1511(2002) 036[0494:DOTTRC]2.0.CO;2.
10. Cooper, W.E., Jr., Vitt, L.J., Hedges, R., and Huey, R.B. 1990. Locomotor impairment and defense in gravid lizards (Eumeces laticeps): behavioral shift in activity may offset costs of reproduction in an active forager. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 27: 153-157. doi:10.1007/BF00180298.
11. Cooper, W.E., Jr., Vitt, L.J., Caldwell, J.P., and Fox, S.F. 2001. Foraging modes of some American lizards: relationships among measurement variables and discreteness of modes. Herpetologica, 57: 65-76.
12. Cundall, D., and Greene, H.W. 2000. Feeding in snakes. In Feeding: form, function, and evolution in tetrapod vertebrates. Edited by K. Schwenk. Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. pp. 293-333.
13. Darwin, C. 1859. On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. John Murray, London.
14. Diller, L.V., and Johnson, D.R. 1988. Food habits, consumption rates, and predation rates of western rattlesnakes and gopher snakes in southwestern Idaho. Herpetologica, 44: 228-233.
15. Diller, L.V., and Wallace, R.L. 1996. Comparative ecology of two snake species (Crotalus viridis and Pituophis melanoleucus) in southwestern Idaho. Herpetologica, 52: 343-360.
16. Dorcas, M.E., and Peterson, C.R. 1998. Daily body temperature variation in free-ranging rubber boas. Herpetologica, 54: 88-103.
17. Douglas, M.E., Douglas, M.R., Schuett, G.W., Porras, L.W., and Holycross, A.T. 2002. Phylogeography of the western rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis complex), with emphasis on the Colorado Plateau. In Biology of the vipers. Edited by G.W. Schuett, M. Höggren, M.E. Douglas, and H.W. Greene. Eagle Mountain Publishing, Eagle Mountain, Utah. pp. 11-50.
18. Endler, J.A. 1977. Geographic variation, speciation, and clines. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
19. Endler, J.A. 1986. Natural selection in the wild. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
20. Epperson, B.K. 2003. Geographical genetics. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
21. Ernst, C.H., and Ernst, E.M. 2003. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
22. Fautin, R.W. 1946. Biotic communities of the northern desert shrub biome in western Utah. Ecol. Monogr. 16: 251-310. doi:10.2307/1961637.
23. Fedriani, J.M., Palomares, F., and Delibes, M. 1999. Niche relations among three sympatric Mediterranean carnivores. Oecologia (Berl.), 121: 138-148. doi:10.1007/s004420050915.
24. Forde, S.E., Thompson, J.N., and Bohannan, B.J.M. 2004. Adaptation varies through space and time in a coevolving host-parasitoid interaction. Nature (London), 431: 841-844. doi:10.1038/nature02906. PMID:15483611.
25. Forsman, A. 1991. Adaptive variation in head size in Vipera berus populations. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 43: 281-296. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312. 1991.tb00600.x.
26. Forsman, A., and Lindell, L.E. 1993. The advantage of a big head: swallowing performance in adders, Vipera berus. Funct. Ecol. 7: 183-189. doi:10.2307/2389885.
27. Foster, S.A., and Endler, J.A. (Editors). 1999. Geographic variation in behavior: perspectives on evolutionary mechanisms. Oxford University Press, New York.
28. Gibbons, J.W., and Semlitsch, R.D. 1987. Activity patterns. In Snakes: ecology and evolutionary biology. Edited by R.A. Seigel, J.T. Collins, and S.S. Novak. McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York. pp. 396-421.
29. Glaudas, X., Winne, C.T., and Fedewa, L.A. 2006. Ontogeny of anti-predator behavioral habituation in cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus). Ethology, 112: 608-615. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2005. 01183.x.
30. Glaudas, X., Andrews, K.M., Willson, J.D., and Gibbons, J.W. 2007. Migration patterns in a population of cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus) inhabiting an isolated wetland. J. Zool. (Lond.), 271: 119-124. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00232.x.
31. Godley, J.S. 1980. Foraging ecology of the striped swamp snake, Regina alleni, in southern Florida. Ecol. Monogr. 50: 411-436. doi:10.2307/1942651.
32. Graham, B.S., Grubbs, D., Holland, K., and Popp, B.N. 2007. A rapid ontogenetic shift in the diet of juvenile yellowfin tuna from Hawaii. Mar. Biol. (Berl.), 150: 647-658. doi:10.1007/s00227-006-0360-y.
33. Grant, P.R., and Grant, B.R. 2002. Unpredictable evolution in a 30-year study of Darwin's finches. Science (Washington, D.C.), 296: 707-711. doi:10.1126/science.1070315. PMID:11976447.
34. Grant, P.R., and Grant, B.R. 2006. Evolution of character displacement in Darwin's finches. Science (Washington, D.C.), 313: 224-226. doi:10.1126/science.1128374. PMID:16840700.
35. Greene, H.W. 1976. Scale overlap, a directional sign stimulus for prey ingestion by ophiophagous snakes. Z. Tierpsychol. 41: 113-120.
36. Greene, H.W. 1983. Dietary correlates of the origin and radiation of snakes. Am. Zool. 23: 431-441.
37. Greene, H.W. 1988. Antipredator mechanisms in reptiles. In Biology of the Reptilia. Vol. 16. Ecology B: defense and life history. Edited by C. Gans and R.B. Huey. Alan R. Liss, New York. pp. 1-152.
38. Greene, H.W. 1989. Ecological, evolutionary, and conservation implications of feeding biology in Old World cat snakes, genus Boiga (Colubridae). Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 46: 193-207.
39. Greene, H.W. 1992. The ecological and behavioral context for pitviper evolution. In Biology of the pitvipers. Edited by J.A. Campbell and E.D. Brodie, Jr. Selva, Tyler, Texas. pp. 107-118.
40. Greene, H.W. 1997. Snakes: the evolution of mystery in nature. University of California Press, Berkeley.
41. Greene, H.W., and Rodríguez-Robles, J.A. 2003. Feeding ecology of the California mountain kingsnake, Lampropeltis zonata (Colubridae). Copeia, 2003: 308-314. doi:10.1643/0045-8511(2003)003[0308:FEOTCM]2.0.CO;2.
42. Hall, E.R. 1929. "Den" of rattlesnakes in eastern Nevada. Bull. Antivenin Inst. Am. 3: 79-80.
43. Hall, E.R. 1946. Mammals of Nevada. University of California Press, Berkeley.
44. Henderson, R.W., and Crother, B.I. 1989. Biogeographic patterns of predation in West Indian colubrid snakes. In Biogeography of the West Indies: past, present and future. Edited by C.A. Woods. Sandhill Crane Press, Gainesville, Fla. pp. 479-518.
45. Holycross, A.T., Painter, C.W., Barker, D.G., and Douglas, M.E. 2002. Foraging ecology of the threatened New Mexico ridgenosed rattlesnake (Crotalus willardi obscurus). In Biology of the vipers. Edited by G.W. Schuett, M. Höggren, M.E. Douglas, and H.W. Greene. Eagle Mountain Publishing, Eagle Mountain, Utah. pp. 243-252.
46. Houston, D., and Shine, R. 1993. Sexual dimorphism and niche divergence: feeding habits of the arafura filesnake. J. Anim. Ecol. 62: 737-748. doi:10.2307/5393.
47. Huey, R.B., and Pianka, E.R. 1981. Ecological consequences of foraging mode. Ecology, 62: 991-999. doi:10.2307/1936998.
48. Hutchinson, G.E. 1959. Homage to Santa Rosalia or why are there so many kinds of animals? Am. Nat. 93: 145-159. doi:10.1086/282070.
49. Jenkins, C.L., and Peterson, C.R. 2005. Linking landscape disturbance to the population ecology of Great Basin Rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus lutosus) in the Upper Snake River Plain. Idaho Bur. Land Manag. Tech. Bull. No. 2005-07. pp. 1-31.
50. Jewett, S.J. 1939. A rattlesnake kills a California Quail. Condor, 41: 30.
51. Kenagy, G.J. 1973. Daily and seasonal patterns of activity and energetics in a heteromyid rodent community. Ecology, 54: 1201-1219. doi:10.2307/1934184.
52. Kiester, A.R. 1971. Species density of North American amphibians and reptiles. Syst. Zool. 20: 127-137. doi:10.2307/2412053.
53. Klauber, L.M. 1972. Rattlesnakes: their habits, life histories, and influence on mankind. 2nd ed. University of California Press, Berkeley.
54. LaRivers, I. 1944. Observations on the nesting mortality of the Brewer Blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus. Am. Midl. Nat. 32: 417-437. doi:10.2307/2421308.
55. Laugen, A.T., Laurila, A., Räsänen, K., and Merilä, J. 2003. Latitudinal countergradient variation in the common frog (Rana temporaria) development rates - evidence for local adaptation. J. Evol. Biol. 16: 996-1005. doi:10.1046/j.1420-9101.2003.00560.x. PMID:14635915.
56. Leal, M., and Rodríguez-Robles, J.A. 1997. Signalling displays during predator-prey interactions in a Puerto Rican anole, Anolis cristatellus. Anim. Behav. 54: 1147-1154. doi:10.1006/anbe.1997.0572. PMID:9398368.
57. Lombardini, K., Bennetts, R.E., and Tourenq, C. 2001. Foraging success and foraging habitat use by cattle egrets and little egrets in the Camargue, France. Condor, 103: 38-44. doi:10.1650/0010-5422(2001)103[0038:FSAFHU]2. 0.CO;2.
58. Luiselli, L. 2006. Resource partitioning and interspecific competition in snakes: the search for general geographical and guild patterns. Oikos, 114: 193-211. doi:10.1111/j.2006.0030-1299.14064.x.
59. Mori, A. 2006. Is headfirst ingestion essential in gape-limited predators? Prey-handling behavior of the anurophagous snake Rhabdophis tigrinus (Colubridae). Can. J. Zool. 84: 954-963. doi:10.1139/Z06-073.
60. Mushinsky, H.R., Hebrard, J.J., and Vodopich, D.S. 1982. Ontogeny of water snake foraging ecology. Ecology, 63: 1624-1629. doi:10.2307/1940102.
61. O'Farrell, M.F. 1974. Seasonal activity patterns of rodents in a sagebrush community. J. Mammal. 55: 809-823. doi:10.2307/1379409.
62. Pack, H.J. 1930. Snakes of Utah. Bull. Utah Agric. Exp. Stn. 221: 1-32.
63. Peterson, C.R., Gibson, A.R., and Dorcas, M.E. 1993. Snake thermal ecology: the causes and consequences of body-temperature variation. In Snakes: ecology and behavior. Edited by R.A. Seigel and J.T. Collins. McGraw-Hill, New York. pp. 241-314.
64. Pianka, E.R. 1967. On lizard species diversity: North American flatland deserts. Ecology, 48: 333-351. doi:10.2307/1932670.
65. Pook, C.E., Wüster, W., and Thorpe, R.S. 2000. Historical biogeography of the western rattlesnake (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalus viridis), inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence information. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 15: 269-282. doi:10.1006/mpev.1999.0756. PMID:10837156.
66. Poulsen, J.R., Clark, C.J., and Smith, T.B. 2001. Seasonal variation in the feeding ecology of the grey-cheeked mangabey (Lophocebus albigena) in Cameroon. Am. J. Primatol. 54: 91-105. doi:10.1002/ajp.1015. PMID:11376447.
67. Reinert, H.K., Cundall, D., and Bushar, L.M. 1984. Foraging behavior of the timber rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus. Copeia, 1984: 976-981. doi:10.2307/1445342.
68. Richardson, C.H. 1915. Reptiles of northwestern Nevada and adjacent territories. Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus. 48, 403-435.
69. Rodríguez-Robles, J.A. 1998. Alternative perspectives on the diet of gopher snakes (Pituophis catenifer, Colubridae): literature records versus stomach contents of wild and museum specimens. Copeia, 1998: 463-466. doi:10.2307/1447442.
70. Rodríguez-Robles, J.A. 2002. Feeding ecology of North American gopher snakes (Pituophis catenifer, Colubridae). Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 77: 165-183. doi:10.1046/j.1095-8312.2002.00098.x.
71. Rodríguez-Robles, J.A., and Greene, H.W. 1996. Ecological patterns in Greater Antillean macrostomatan snake assemblages, with comments on body-size evolution in Epicrates (Boidae). In Contributions to West Indian herpetology: a tribute to Albert Schwartz. Contributions to Herpetology. Vol. 12. Edited by R. Powell and R.W. Henderson. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, N.Y. pp. 339-357.
72. Rodríguez-Robles, J.A., and Greene, H.W. 1999. Food habits of the long-nosed snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei), a "specialist" predator? J. Zool. (Lond.), 248: 489-499. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1999. tb01048.x.
73. Rodríguez-Robles, J.A., Bell, C.J., and Greene, H.W. 1999. Food habits of the glossy snake, Arizona elegans, with comparisons to the diet of sympatric long-nosed snakes, Rhinocheilus lecontei. J. Herpetol. 33: 87-92. doi:10.2307/1565546.
74. Salomão, M.G., Almeida-Santos, S.M., and Puorto, G. 1995. Activity pattern of Crotalus durissus (Viperidae, Crotalinae): feeding, reproduction and snakebite. Stud. Neotrop. Fauna Environ. 30: 101-106.
75. SAS Institute Inc. 1998. StatView®. Version 5.0.1 [computer program]. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, N.C.
76. Schmitz, O.J. 2008. Effects of predator hunting mode on grassland ecosystem function. Science (Washington, D.C.), 319: 952-954. doi:10.1126/science.1152355. PMID:18276890.
77. Schwenk, K. (Editor). 2000. Feeding: form, function, and evolution in tetrapod vertebrates. Academic Press, San Diego, Calif.
78. Secor, S.M., and Diamond, J.M. 2000. Evolution of regulatory responses to feeding in snakes. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 73: 123-141. doi:10.1086/316734. PMID:10801391.
79. Secor, S.M., and Nagy, K.A. 1994. Bioenergetic correlates of foraging mode for the snakes Crotalus cerastes and Masticophis flagellum. Ecology, 75: 1600-1614. doi:10.2307/1939621.
80. Seigel, R.A. 1993. Summary: future research on snakes, or how to combat "lizard envy". In Snakes: ecology and behavior. Edited by R.A. Seigel and J.T. Collins. McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York. pp. 395-402.
81. Seigel, R.A., and Ford, N.B. 1987. Reproductive ecology. In Snakes: ecology and evolutionary biology. Edited by R.A. Seigel, J.T. Collins, and S.S. Novak. McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York. pp. 210-252.
82. Shetty, S., and Shine, R. 2002. Sexual divergence in diets and morphology in Fijian sea snakes Laticauda colubrina (Laticaudinae). Austral Ecol. 27: 77-84. doi:10.1046/j.1442-9993.2002.01161.x.
83. Shine, R. 1989. Ecological causes for the evolution of sexual dimorphism: a review of the evidence. Q. Rev. Biol. 64: 419-461. doi:10.1086/416458. PMID:2697022.
84. Shine, R. 1991a. Why do larger snakes eat larger prey items? Funct. Ecol. 5: 493-502. doi:10.2307/2389631.
85. Shine, R. 1991b. Australian snakes: a natural history. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y.
86. Shine, R. 1991c. Intersexual dietary divergence and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in snakes. Am. Nat. 138: 103-122. doi:10.1086/285207.
87. Shine, R., Haagner, G.V., Branch, W.R., Harlow, P.S., and Webb, J.K. 1996. Natural history of the African shieldnose snake Aspidelaps scutatus (Serpentes, Elapidae). J. Herpetol. 30: 361-366. doi:10.2307/1565173.
88. StatSoft Inc. 2000. STATISTICA®. Version 6.0 [computer program]. StatSoft Inc., Tulsa, Okla.
89. Stebbins, R.C. 2003. A field guide to western reptiles and amphibians. Houghton Mifflin Company,Boston, Mass.
90. Vincent, S.E., Moon, B.R., Shine, R., and Herrel, A. 2006. The functional meaning of "prey size" in water snakes (Nerodia fasciata, Colubridae). Oecologia (Berl.), 147: 204-211. doi:10.1007/s00442-005- 0258-2. PMID:16237539.
91. Vitt, L.J. 1987. Communities. In Snakes: ecology and evolutionary biology. Edited by R.A. Seigel, J.T. Collins, and S.S. Novak. McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York. pp. 335-365.
92. Weatherley, A.H. 1963. Notions of niche and competition among animals, with special reference to freshwater fish. Nature (London), 197: 14-17. doi:10.1038/197014a0.
93. Woodbury, A.M. 1931. A descriptive catalogue of the reptiles of Utah. Bull. Univ. Utah, 21: 1-129.
94. Woodbury, A.M. 1933. Rattlesnakes eat birds. Zion-Bryce Nature Notes, 5: 8.