0
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      Geographic variation in the frequency of scarring and tail stubs in eastern gartersnakes (Thamnophis s. sirtalis) from Michigan, USA

      ,
      Amphibia-Reptilia
      Brill

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisher
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Abstract

          Tail loss, urotomy, in reptiles and amphibians has been the emphasis of many ecological and evolutionary studies, especially in lizards and salamanders; however, less is known about this phenomenon in snakes. In addition, while hypotheses for variation in tail loss across natural populations exist, none have been strongly supported. We conducted much needed research on tail loss in snakes and attempted to elucidate any relationship between variation in predator composition and frequency of wounds. 523 common gartersnakes, Thamnophis sirtalis, from 5 Michigan, USA field sites characterized by diverse predator compositions were examined for tail loss and other predator-inflicted wounds and historical records of predator composition for Michigan were updated. Our results indicate that frequency of wounds vary geographically, and that this variation may be due, in part, to differences in predator diversity. Our data also suggest that other environmental variables (e.g., predator inefficiency) that may influence the frequency of wounds in populations may be at work.

          Related collections

          Author and article information

          Journal
          Amphibia-Reptilia
          Brill
          0173-5373
          1568-5381
          2005
          2005
          : 26
          : 3
          : 353-358
          Article
          10.1163/156853805774408568
          849232c6-8acc-414b-a9f7-721c9d7c47b5
          © 2005
          History

          Comments

          Comment on this article