Flexible defense: Context-dependent antipredator responses of two species of Australian elapid snakes

Herpetologica

Volumn 66, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 1-11

  Llewelyn, John ^a   Webb, Jonathan K ^a   Shine, Richard ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY   (Australia)

Author keywords

Antipredator behavior; Cryptophis nigrescens; Elapid; Hoplocephalus bungaroides; Nocturnal

Indexed keywords

ANTIPREDATOR DEFENSE; BEHAVIORAL RESPONSE; ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS; GENERALIST; HABITAT USE; INTERSPECIFIC VARIATION; SNAKE; SYMPATRY; TEMPERATURE EFFECT;

AUSTRALIA;

ELAPIDAE; HOPLOCEPHALUS BUNGAROIDES; RHINOPLOCEPHALUS NIGRESCENS; SERPENTES;

EID: 77949559287     PISSN: 00180831     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1655/07-082.1     Document Type: Article

References (55)

1. AJIE, B. C., L. M. PINTOR, J. WATTERS, J. L. KERBY, J. I. HAMMOND, AND A. SIH. 2007. A framework for determining the fitness consequences of antipredator behavior. Behavioral Ecology 18:267-270.
2. ATKINSON, G., AND T. REILLY. 1996. Circadian variation in sports performance. Sports Medicine 21:292-312.
3. BALENT, K. L., AND P. T. ANDREADIS. 1998. The mixed foraging strategy of juvenile northern water snakes. Journal of Herpetology 32:575-579.
4. COGGER, H. G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Reed New Holland, Sydney, Australia.
5. COOPER, W. E., JR. 2003. Risk factors affecting escape behavior by the desert iguana, Dipsosaurus dorsalis: Speed and directness of predator approach, degree of cover, direction of turning by a predator, and temperature. Canadian Journal of Zoology 81:979-984.
6. COOPER, W. E., JR., AND W. G. FREDERICK. 2007. Optimal flight initiation distance. Journal of Theoretical Biology 244:59-67.
7. DEUFEL, A., AND D. CUNDALL. 2006. Functional plasticity of the venom delivery system in snakes with a focus on the poststrike prey release behavior. Journal of Comparative Zoology 245:249-267.
8. DOWNES, S. J. 2002. Size-dependent predation by snakes: Selective foraging or differential prey vulnerability? Behavioral Ecology 13:551-560.
9. DUVALL, D., M. B. KING, AND K. J. GUTZWILLER. 1985. Behavioral ecology and ethology of the prairie rattlesnake. National Geographic Research 1:80-111.
10. FLOWERS, M. A., AND B. M. GRAVES. 1997. Juvenile toads avoid chemical cues from snake predators. Animal Behaviour 53:641-646.
11. FOLKARD, S., AND S. D. ROSEN. 1990. Circadian performance rhythms: Some practical and theoretical implications and discussion. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B 327:543-553.
12. GOMES, F. R., C. R. BEVIER, AND C. A. NAVAS. 2002. Environmental and physiological factors influence antipredator behavior in Scinax hiemalis (Anura: Hylidae). Copeia 2002:994-1005.
13. GOODE, M. J., AND D. DUVALL. 1989. Body temperature and defensive behavior of free-ranging prairie rattlesnakes Crotalus viridis viridis. Animal Behaviour 38:360-362.
14. GREENE, H. W. 1988. Antipredator Mechanisms in Reptiles. Alan R. Liss, New York, New York, USA.
15. GREENE, H. W., P. FOGDEN, AND M. FOGDEN. 2000. Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, USA.
16. HAILEY, A., AND P. M. C. DAVIES. 1986. Effects of size, sex, temperature and condition on activity metabolism and defense behavior of the viperine snake Natrix maura. Journal of Zoology London 208A:541-558.
17. HERTZ, P. E., R. B. HUEY, AND E. NEVO. 1982. Fight vs. flight: Body temperature influences defensive responses of lizards. Animal Behaviour 30:676-679.
18. HERZOG, H. A., AND B. D. BAILEY. 1987. Development of antipredator responses in snakes: II. Effects of recent feeding on defensive behaviors of juvenile garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis). Journal of Comparative Psychology 101:387-389.
19. HUEY, R. B., AND E. R. PIANKA. 1981. Ecological consequences of foraging mode. Ecology 62:991-999.
20. KARDONG, K. 1982. The evolution of venom apparatus in snakes from colubrids to viperids and elapids. Memorias do Instituto Butantan 46:105-118.
21. KISSNER, K. J., M. R. FORBES, AND D. M. SECOY. 1997. Rattling behavior of prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis viridis, Viperidae) in relation to sex, reproduc-tive status, body size, and body temperature. Ethology 103:1042-1050.
22. LANGKILDE, T., R. SHINE, AND R. T. MASON. 2004. Predatory attacks to the head vs. body modify behavioral responses of garter snakes. Ethology 110:937-947.
23. LIND, J., AND W. CRESSWELL. 2005. Determining the fitness consequences of anti-predation behaviour. Behavioural Ecology 16:945-956.
24. LINGLE, S., AND S. PELLIS. 2002. Fight or flight? Antipredator behavior and the escalation of coyote encounters with deer. Oecologia 131:154-164.
25. LLEWELYN, J., R. SHINE, AND J. K. WEBB. 2005. Thermal regimes and diel activity patterns of four species of small elapid snakes from south-eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 53:1-8.
26. LLEWELYN, J., R. SHINE, AND J. K. WEBB. 2006. Time of testing affects locomotor performance in nocturnal versus diurnal snakes. Journal of Thermal Biology 31:268-273.
27. LOPEZ, P., J. MARTIN, AND A. BARBOSA. 2000. Site familiarity affects antipredator behavior of the amphisbaenian Blanus cinereus. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78:2142-2146.
28. MAGALHÃ ES, S., A. JANSSEN, R. HANNA, AND M. SABELIS. 2002. Flexible antipredator behaviour in herbivorous mites through vertical migration in a plant. Oecologia 132:143-149.
29. MIYATAKE, T., K. OKADA, AND T. HARANO. 2008. Negative relationship between ambient temperature and deathfeigning intensity in adult Callosobruchus maculatus and Callosobruchus chinensis. Physiological Entomology 33:83-88.
30. MORI, A., AND G. M. BURGHARDT. 2001. Temperature effects on anti-predator behaviour in Rhabdophis tigrinus, a snake with toxic nuchal glands. Ethology 107:795-811.
31. MORI, A., AND G. M. BURGHARDT. 2004. Thermal effects on the antipredator behaviour of snakes: A review and proposed terminology. Herpetological Journal 14:79-87.
32. PASSEK, K. M., AND J. C. GILLINGHAM. 1997. Thermal influence on defensive behaviours of the Eastern garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis. Animal Behaviour 54:629-633.
33. POLLOCK, M. S., R. J. POLLOCK, AND D. P. CHIVERS. 2006. Social context influences the antipredator behaviour of fathead minnows to chemical alarm cues. Ethology 112:801-806.
34. POUGH, F. H., R. M. ANDREWS, J. E. CADLE, M. L. CRUMP, A. H. SAVITSKY, AND K. D. WELLS. 2004. Herpetology. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA.
35. PRINGLE, R. M., J. K. WEBB, AND R. SHINE. 2003. Canopy structure, microclimate, and habitat selection by a nocturnal snake, Hoplocephalus bungaroides. Ecology 84:2668-2679.
36. QUINN, G. P., AND M. J. KEOUGH. 2002. Experimental Design and Data Analysis for Biologists. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
37. RASMUSSEN, S., B. A. YOUNG, AND H. KRIMM. 1995. On the "spitting" behaviour in cobras (Serpentes: Elapidae). Journal of Zoology London 237:27-35.
38. SHINE, R. 1977. Habitats, diets and sympatry in snakes: A study from Australia. Canadian Journal of Zoology 55:1118-1128.
39. SHINE, R. 1984. Reproductive biology and food habits of the Australian elapid snakes of the genus Cryptophis. Journal of Herpetology 18:33-39.
40. SHINE, R., M. M. OLSSON, M. P. LEMASTER, I. T. MOORE, AND R. T. MASON. 2000. Effects of sex, body size, temperature, and location on the antipredator tactics of free-ranging gartersnakes (Thamnophis sirtalis, Colubridae). Behavioral Ecology 11:239-245.
41. SHINE, R., L.-X. SUN, M. FITZGERALD, AND M. KEARNEY. 2002. Antipredator responses of free-ranging pit vipers (Gloydius shedaoensis, Viperidae). Copeia 2002:843-850.
42. SUTHERLAND, S. K., AND J. TIBBALLS. 2001. Australian Animal Toxins. The Creatures, Their Toxins and Care of the Poisoned Patient. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia.
43. TSAIRI, H., AND A. BOUSKILA. 2004. Ambush site selection of a desert snake (Echis coloratus) at an oasis. Herpetologica 60:13-23.
44. VAN DAMME, R., AND T. J. M. VAN DOOREN. 1999. Absolute versus per unit body length speed of prey as an estimator of vulnerability to predation. Animal Behaviour 57:347-352.
45. VERMEIJ, G. J. 1982. Unsuccessful predation and evolution. American Naturalist 120:701-720.
46. WEBB, J. K., AND R. SHINE. 1998a. Ecological characteristics of a threatened snake species, Hoplocephalus bungaroides (Serpentes, Elapidae). Animal Conservation 1:185-193.
47. WEBB, J. K., AND R. SHINE. 1998b. Thermoregulation by a nocturnal elapid snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides) in southeastern Australia. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 71:680-692.
48. WEBB, J. K., AND R. SHINE. 1998c. Using thermal ecology to predict retreat-site selection by an endangered snake species. Biological Conservation 86:233-242.
49. WEBB, J. K., AND R. SHINE. 2008. Differential effects of an intense wildfire on survival of sympatric snakes. Journal of Wildlife Management 72:1394-1398.
50. WEBB, J. K., AND M. J. WHITING. 2005. Why don't small snakes bask? Juvenile broad-headed snakes trade thermal benefits for safety. Oikos 110:515-522.
51. WEBB, J. K., B. W. BROOK, AND R. SHINE. 2002. What makes a species vulnerable to extinction? Comparative life-history traits of two sympatric snakes. Ecological Research 17:59-67.
52. WEBB, J. K., B. W. BROOK, AND R. SHINE. 2003. Does foraging mode influence life history traits? A comparative study of growth, maturation and survival of two species of sympatric snakes from south-eastern Australia. Austral Ecology 28:601-610.
53. WEETMAN, D., D. ATKINSON, AND J. C. CHUBB. 1998. Effects of temperature on anti-predator behaviour in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Animal Behaviour 55:1361-1372.
54. WHITAKER, P. B., K. ELLIS, AND R. SHINE. 2000. The defensive strike of the eastern brownsnake, Pseudonaja textilis (Elapidae). Functional Ecology 14:25-31.
55. WISENDEN, B. D., AND M. C. MILLARD. 2001. Aquatic flatworms use chemical cues from injured conspecifics to assess predation risk and to associate risk with novel cues. Animal Behaviour 62:761-766