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The warmer a rattlesnake, the faster it vibrates its tail. [6] Rattlesnakes tail-vibrate faster than other snakes, with some individuals nearing or exceeding 90 rattles per second. [7] [8] This makes rattlesnake tail vibration one of the fastest sustained vertebrate movements—faster than the wingbeat of a hummingbird. The movement is possible ...
These results strongly support the hypothesis that tail vibration preceded the rattling system as a behavior and allowed for the rattle to be selected for once developed. Even a small, underdeveloped rattle early in the evolution of the rattling system could have been advantageous if tail vibration was an ancestral behavior. [60]
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Modified tail scales form a rattle on a western diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). The most distinctive modification of the snake scale is the rattle of rattlesnakes, such as those of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus. The rattle is made up of a series of loosely linked, interlocking chambers that when shaken, vibrate against one another ...
The rattle may also be lacking in any species due to a congenital abnormality. [3] The rattle of a western diamondback rattlesnake (note the black and white colour at the base) The rattle consists of a series of loosely interlocking hollow shells, each of which was at one point the scale covering the tip of the tail.
The timber rattlesnake (C. horridus), has no tail rings. In the western rattlesnake (C. oreganus), the pale tail rings are the same color as the ground. The tail of the black-tailed rattlesnake (C. molossus), is a uniform black, or has indistinct tail rings.
The end of the tail has a rattle. Natural history: These snakes are active from March to October. In the fall, this snake bears seven to 21 young. They eat mostly rodents and rabbits.
Crotalus oreganus, commonly known as the Western rattlesnake or northern Pacific rattlesnake, [4] [5] is a venomous pit viper species found in western North America from the Baja California Peninsula to the southern interior of British Columbia.