I have been doing a lot of research lately on rattlesnake evolution. The tail rattling is common in areas where pit vipers live, which is why Asian and American snake rattle tails, but European and African ones don't. The rattlesnake tail is believed to be an amplification of this behavior.



Contrary to common belief, rattlesnakes did not evolve on the plains of North America and thier rattle wasn't to warn of large grazing animals. It is now thought that they evolved in the mountains of Mexico. The reason why is harder to come by. It is either to warn off small carnivores like the coati or to protect the tip of the tail. The 2 tail protection theories are based on that the rattling would have occured in rocky areas where small stones and pebbles could damage the tail. Also many of the rattleless tail shakers commonly rattle thier tail against dried leave to amplify the sound. Since thier are no dried leaves in these areas, the rattlesnake might have developed something else (the rattle) to make themselves heard. The other thought is that since the tail was used as a caudal lure, the keratin links (rattle) protected the tip of the tail incase it got bit.



Mind you, this is not a fact, just a few of the theories I've picked up in my research. This has gotten me very interested in this "behavior evolution".

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