Posted by:
MikeinOKC
at Thu Oct 23 07:58:13 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by MikeinOKC ]
Well I'll give it a try -- rattlesnakes evolved largely in territory and times when there were large herds of hooved animals - primarily buffalo -- which would likely have stepped on them in a terminal fashion during migrations. Hence it makes sense that something to warm the advancing critters that there was a venomous creature underfoot would have been an evolutionary advantage. I would think the tail shaking behavior of some other snakes would have followed as an evolutionaty adaption that says "I'm not really a rattler, but I mimic one pretty well, so be wise and leave me the heck alone, sicne you can't really be sure." Much like insect mimicry -- the walking stick would have evolved after the stick for obvious reasons.
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RE: rattler question - MikeinOKC, Thu Oct 23 07:58:13 2008