Posted by Greg Knoell on April 25, 2002 at 18:06:50:
In Reply to: Diversionary tactics... posted by Jaffo on April 25, 2002 at 15:34:21:
The commonly observed characteristic of
rattlesnakes placing their rattle inside their
coils does not cancel out the chance that it
evolved as a means of luring or distraction form
a snake's head. A behavioral adaptation to keep
the rattle safe could have arouse after the rattle
became a warning device rather than one of
attraction or distraction.
It would seem to me that the behavior of tail
vibration would have to evolve before a rattle
would. I don't believe non-venomous snakes that
vibrate their tail when nervous is a direct
case of mimicry from rattlesnakes, it may now
be a benifit, but I would hypothesize that some
non-venomous snakes vibrated their tails before
ancient crotalus species evolved a rattle. It
obviously was functional and is today in areas
where ralltesnakes do not even occur yet other
types of snakes in these areas do vibrate their
tails when nervous.
