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Posted by Kenny Wray on April 24, 2002 at 08:53:21:
In Reply to: Re: evolution of the rattle posted by Marty on April 24, 2002 at 06:06:42:
that the rattle evolved as some kind of warning mechanism. There are very few theories that have been preposed that make much more sense than this one. Such as some of the theories that state that it may have evolved as food procurrement. As for the origin of rattlesnakes, most evidence tends to point to Mexico as the area of radiation of the rattlesnakes, although I have never heard or read of the highlands specifically suggested. We would also have to consider the present day geology of that area with the
geology of that area in the past where rattlesnakes evolved and radiated from. As for fossil evidence (definitely not complete by any means) it is extremely common to find rattlesnake vertebrae next to the bones of horses, bison, and other ungulates. In addition, there were some tortoise species that obtained the size of VW bugs roaming these areas also. Does this fossil evidence point directly towards the exact origins of rattlesnakes? No, not necessairily, but it is a good start. And fianlly, there are
countless first hand observations by Klauber and Carr (and many others) of field experiences in which rattlesnakes only rattled when four-legged creatures were present, but not when two-legged creatures (humans) were. As for my own experience, I recall once when, three of us, well versed in field herping, were checking out a clearing in the middle of a pine flatwoods. The trees had been cleared and stumps burned at least a year prior, the wire grass was coming in nicely, but the ground was still clearly
visible. After ~3 hours of walking back and forth and checking the few remaining stumps in the field and seeing absolutely nothing, a small heard of cattle began to approach the clearing. As we scooted towards the woods, still remaining in the field, the cattle began to come towards us. They seemed like they were looking for us to drop hay or some other type of feed for them. Just as they began to walk through are exact path, a rattle went off, about ten yards away. Most of the cattle immediately moved off to the side of the
clearing. On inspection we found a nice size (~4 foot) Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake sitting coiled up near two clumps of wire grass. And finally I would have to say, that all of those shows on television are reaching a much broader audience than the herpers we all know and many of the times these people "bastardize" theories or other information so as to not alienate the audience by "talking above them" (I think most of the time the average educated herper thinks that they are "talking down". So he used the term bison
which is often assocaited with grassy plains of North America, but people could then relate.
