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The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 3087-3092 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

Response of western diamondback rattlesnakes Crotalus atrox to airborne sounds

Bruce A. Young* and Amie Aguiar

Department of Biology, Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042, USA

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: youngab{at}lafayette.edu)

Accepted 27 June 2002

In order to test the hypothesis that snakes can not only perceive airborne sounds, but also respond to them, an acoustic isolation chamber was designed and constructed to perform best within the 150-450 Hz range in which snakes perceive sound. Suspended within this acoustic chamber was a steel mesh basket designed to minimize the potential for groundborne vibrations. A synthesized tone was created out of 20 different 150 ms sounds, each separated by a 50 ms period of silence; the acoustic energy of each of the 20 sounds was concentrated between 200-400 Hz, and each sound included frequency modulation. The trial stimuli were presented to western diamondback rattlesnakes Crotalus atrox at a level 5-10 dB above their perception threshold. Four significant behavioural responses were observed upon stimulus presentation: cessation of body movements, reduction or cessation of tongue flicking, rapid jerks of the head and rattling. At least one significant behavioural response was observed in 92% of the behavioural trials. This study provides the first experimental evidence that snakes can respond behaviourally to airborne sounds.

Key words: acoustic, communication, reptilia, squamata, hearing, behaviour, western diamondback rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox


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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2002