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146 results for “rattlesnake”

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dryad36/100

Diet of a threatened rattlesnake (eastern massasauga) revealed by DNA metabarcoding

Characterizing the diet of imperiled species using minimally invasive methods is crucial to understanding their ecology and conservation requirements. Here, we apply a DNA metabarcoding approach to study the diet of the eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus), a Federally Threatened snake found throughout the Great Lakes region. Eighty-three fecal samples collected across 10 different massasauga populations located in Michigan, USA, were sequenced, with 70 samples containing prey DNA. We used universal metazoan primers and developed a host-specific oligonucleotide blocker to characterize their diet. We identified at least 12 different prey species, with eastern massasaugas exhibiting opportunistic feeding and a strong preference towards small mammals. Meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) were the most common prey item (70% of diet) followed by the northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda) and masked shrew (Sorex cinereus; 15.7% of diet each), along with occasional bird and snake prey. Adult individuals exhibited a more generalized diet, consuming a larger number of prey taxa on average. Younger snakes consumed a smaller variety of prey items and tended to consume smaller-sized mammals such as masked shrews (Sorex cinereus) and northern short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda). We conclude that small mammals are a crucial part of eastern massasauga rattlesnake diet and recommend this be taken into consideration when conservation strategies are developed. The methods developed in this study can be applied to other reptile species, providing an accurate, minimally invasive, and thorough diet assessment for at-risk reptile species.

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Snakes on a plain: Complex biotic and abiotic factors determine venom variation in North America's widest-ranging rattlesnake

Background. Snake venoms are trophic adaptations that represent an ideal model to examine the evolutionary factors that shape polymorphic traits under strong natural selection. Venom compositional variation is substantial within and among venomous snake species. However, the forces shaping this phenotypic complexity, as well as the potential integrated roles of biotic and abiotic factors, have received little attention. Here, we investigate geographic variation in venom composition in a wide-ranging rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis viridis) and contextualize this variation by investigating dietary, phylogenetic, and environmental variables that covary with venom. Results. Using shotgun proteomics, venom biochemical profiling, and lethality assays, we identify 2 distinct divergent phenotypes that characterize major axes of venom variation in this species: a myotoxin-rich phenotype and a snake venom metalloprotease (SVMP)-rich phenotype. We find that dietary availability and temperature-related abiotic factors are correlated with geographic trends in venom composition. Conclusions. Our findings highlight the potential for snake venoms to vary extensively within species, for this variation to be driven by biotic and abiotic factors, and for the importance of integrating biotic and abiotic variation for understanding complex trait evolution. Links between venom variation and variation in biotic and abiotic factors indicate that venom variation likely results from substantial geographic variation in selection regimes that determine the efficacy of venom phenotypes across populations and snake species. Our results highlight the <a>implicit </a>influence of abiotic factors on biotic factors that ultimately shape venom phenotype, providing evidence for a central role of local selection as a key driver of venom variation.

opencc-zeroMay 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Male dispersal drives gene flow in Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus)

Threatened across much of their range, timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) exhibit patterns in movement and genetic diversity that are shaped by many aspects of their environments in ways that may foster or constrain conservation. We combine movement data with nuclear and mitochondrial population genetic data to understand the population structure of snakes in four overwintering sites (hibernacula) in central Pennsylvania. Our analyses support the conclusion that hibernacula separated by only a few kilometers can represent genetically distinct populations. In addition, as the first dataset to compare nuclear and mitochondrial patterns in C. horridus, we provide novel evidence for how likely asymmetry in gene flow (with males responsible for inter-hibernaculum matings) shapes timber rattlesnake population genetics.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Reference genome resources associated with the project: Functional genetic diversity is correlated with intensity of genetic drift in populations of an endangered rattlesnake

Theory predicts that genetic erosion in small, isolated populations of endangered species can be assessed using estimates of neutral genetic variation reflecting long-term impacts of genetic drift, yet this widely used approach has been questioned in the genomics era. Here we leverage a chromosome-level assembly and whole genome resequencing data (N=110 individuals) from an endangered rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) to evaluate the relationship between genome-wide neutral and functional diversity over long- and short-term timescales. As predicted for populations at long-term equilibrium, we found a positive correlation between population-level estimates of neutral genetic diversity (π) and the mean number of highly detrimental loss-of-function mutations, and a negative relationship between neutral genetic diversity and an estimate of genetic load. In contrast, we found only a weak, non-significant positive correlation between levels of neutral and adaptive variation. Additional analyses using estimates of drift at more recent time scales (> 100 generations) show expected correlations between both measures of genetic load, but a lack of a significant correlation with levels of adaptive variation. Individual-based demographic metrics that capture drift impacts over recent time scales confirm these results. Broadly, our results confirm that estimates of diversity and demography based on neutral genetic variation provide an accurate measure of a key component of genetic erosion – genetic load – in populations of a threatened vertebrate. Our findings also provide nuance to the neutral-functional diversity controversy by demonstrating that neutral genetic diversity is useful in predicting some, but not all, components of functional genetic diversity.

opencc-zeroOct 2023View details →

dryad36/100