...Jarrod C. Petersen; Bruce C. Jayne; Alexander D. Wilde; John G. Capano; Thomas J. Roberts ABSTRACT Large and stout snakes commonly consume large prey and use rectilinear crawling; yet, whether body wall distention after feeding impairs rectilinear locomotion is poorly understood. After eating large...

...Vincent Stin; Ramiro Godoy-Diana; Xavier Bonnet; Anthony Herrel ABSTRACT We describe a method for measuring the 3D vortical structures produced by an anguilliform swimmer using volumetric velocimetry. The wake of freely swimming dice snakes ( Natrix tessellata ) was quantified, revealing...

...Derek J. Jurestovsky; Sidarth P. Joy; Henry C. Astley ABSTRACT Snake strikes are some of the most rapid accelerations in terrestrial vertebrates. Generating rapid body accelerations requires high ground reaction forces, but on flat surfaces snakes must rely on static friction to prevent slip. We...

..., as a result of intraventricular pressure separation. However, the relationship between intraventricular pressure separation and diverging aortic and pulmonary artery wall morphologies and mechanical characteristics is not understood. The snake cardiovascular system poses a unique model for the study...

...John G. Capano; Scott M. Boback; Hannah I. Weller; Robert L. Cieri; Charles F. Zwemer; Elizabeth L. Brainerd ABSTRACT The evolution of constriction and of large prey ingestion within snakes are key innovations that may explain the remarkable diversity, distribution and ecological scope...

...Tobias Wang; Augusto S. Abe; Ariovaldo P. Cruz-Neto; Denis V. Andrade; Edwin W. Taylor ABSTRACT When snakes digest large meals, heart rate is accelerated by withdrawal of vagal tone and an increased non-adrenergic-non-cholinergic tone that seems to stem from circulating blood-borne factors exerting...

... concurrently measured. To examine CORT's role in mobilizing glucose in a wild reptile, we conducted two studies. The first study measured natural baseline and stress-induced blood-borne CORT and glucose levels in snakes during spring emergence and again when snakes return to the denning sites in autumn...

.... In this study, male ball pythons ( Python regius ) were used to test the hypothesis that food consumption stimulates cell proliferation in the brain. We used 5-bromo-12′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) as a cell-birth marker to quantify and compare cell proliferation in the brain of fasted snakes and those at 2 and 6 days...

...Steven J. Newman; Bruce C. Jayne ABSTRACT A central issue for understanding locomotion of vertebrates is how muscle activity and movements of their segmented axial structures are coordinated, and snakes have a longitudinal uniformity of body segments and diverse locomotor behaviors that are well...

... to enhance subsurface performance. Using X-ray imaging, we performed the first kinematic investigation of the subsurface locomotion of the long, slender shovel-nosed snake ( Chionactis occipitalis ) and compared its biomechanics with those of the shorter, limbed sandfish lizard ( Scincus scincus...

... examined whether juveniles have better feeding performance relative to adults and investigations of snake feeding ontogeny have not shown enhanced performance in smaller snakes. I tested the hypothesis that juvenile snakes have better feeding performance by comparing maximum gape circumference...

...Kevin van Doorn; Jacob G. Sivak SUMMARY The eyes of snakes are shielded beneath a layer of transparent integument referred to as the ‘reptilian spectacle’. Well adapted to vision by virtue of its optical transparency, it nevertheless retains one characteristic of the integument that would otherwise...

... documented. We manipulated shelter availability and environmental and physiological variables (i.e. access to a heat source, predator attack, feeding status) in a viviparous snake, and assessed sun-basking behavior, digestive performance (i.e. digestive transit time, crude estimate of assimilation...

.... * Author for correspondence ( [email protected] ) † Present address: Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14642, USA 30 7 2011 5 4 2012 © 2012. 2012 pitviper sensory anatomy sensory physiology snake facial pit loreal...

... study species, the red-sided garter snake ( Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis ), is a model vertebrate for studying hormonal control of chemical signals because males completely rely on the female sex pheromone to identify potential mates among thousands of individuals. How sex hormones can influence...

...Stephen M. Secor; Josi R. Taylor; Martin Grosell SUMMARY Snakes exhibit an apparent dichotomy in the regulation of gastrointestinal (GI) performance with feeding and fasting; frequently feeding species modestly regulate intestinal function whereas infrequently feeding species rapidly upregulate...

...Joshua J. Amiel; Beverly Chua; Richard J. Wassersug; David R. Jones SUMMARY Regional control of blood flow is often suggested as a mechanism for fine thermoregulatory adjustments in snakes. However, the flow of blood to different body regions at various temperatures has never been visualized...

.... Several factors make this level of accuracy difficult to achieve; the target is moving, is frequently >1 m away from the snake and the venom stream is released in approximately 50 ms. In the present study we show that spitting cobras can accurately track the movements of a potentially threatening...

... nest attendance in animals. * Author for correspondence ( [email protected] ) 31 1 2010 © 2010. 2010 adaptive plasticity life history trade-offs metabolism parental care snake thermoregulation water balance Parental care is instrumental to the success of a diverse array...

...Bruce A. Young; Kenneth V. Kardong SUMMARY Many snakes, particularly cobras, form as part of a defensive display, a hood, an active lateral expansion of their neck skin and underlying musculature and ribs. We identified muscle groups possibly involved in hooding based on their attachments...