| sweeping and striking: a kinematic study of the trunk during prey capture in three thamnophiine snakes. | the trunk plays an obvious and important role in the prey capture behavior of many species of snake, yet trunk function during predatory strikes is poorly understood. axial kinematics of three thamnophiine snakes (thamnophis couchii, thamnophis elegans and nerodia rhombifer) were studied to quantify differences between sideways-directed and forward-directed attacks and to investigate strike diversity at relatively low phylogenetic levels. feeding strikes were filmed at 60 hz, and 13 points along ... | 2003 | 12796455 |
| parallel arms races between garter snakes and newts involving tetrodotoxin as the phenotypic interface of coevolution. | parallel "arms races" involving the same or similar phenotypic interfaces allow inference about selective forces driving coevolution, as well as the importance of phylogenetic and phenotypic constraints in coevolution. here, we report the existence of apparent parallel arms races between species pairs of garter snakes and their toxic newt prey that indicate independent evolutionary origins of a key phenotype in the interface. in at least one area of sympatry, the aquatic garter snake, thamnophis ... | 2005 | 15856788 |
| the energetic advantages of slug specialization in garter snakes (genus thamnophis). | we tested the hypothesis that dietary specialization by foraging garter snakes is accompanied by increased assimilation efficiency on specialist prey items. our comparison included two closely related garter snake species considered to be slug specialists (thamnophis ordinoides and thamnophis elegans terrestris), one fish specialist (thamnophis couchii), and one diet generalist (thamnophis elegans elegans). our results suggest that slug specialists have an energetic advantage over non-slug-eatin ... | 2008 | 18419552 |
| the geographic mosaic in parallel: matching patterns of newt tetrodotoxin levels and snake resistance in multiple predator-prey pairs. | the geographic mosaic theory of coevolution predicts that coevolutionary arms races will vary over time and space because of the diverse ecological settings and population histories of interacting species across the landscape. thus, understanding coevolution may require investigating broad sets of populations sampled across the range of the interaction. in addition, comparing coevolutionary dynamics between similar systems may reveal the importance of specific factors that structure coevolution. ... | 2020 | 32198924 |