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| Melissa Amarello; Jeffrey J. Smith; John Slone. |
| Parental care is important in many diverse taxa because of its positive impact on the parent's fitness. Relatively simple forms of parental care, such as female attendance and defense, which is present in many squamate reptiles, will likely provide insight into the evolution of more complex forms observed in crocodilians, birds, and mammals. Historically, observations of adult and newborn rattlesnakes in close proximity were dismissed as mere coincidence of live-birth, and only recently acknowledged as examples of parental care. In 2010, we monitored 11 pregnant Arizona black rattlesnakes (_Crotalus cerberus_): 4 solitary individuals and 2 aggregations composed of three and four individuals. We documented various forms of parental care,... |
| Tipo: Poster |
Palavras-chave: Ecology; Evolutionary Biology. |
| Ano: 2011 |
URL: http://precedings.nature.com/documents/6671/version/1 |
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| Melissa Amarello; Jeffrey J. Smith. |
| Coloration may serve a variety of behavioral (e.g., crypsis, communication) and physiological (e.g., thermoregulation, protection) functions for terrestrial ectotherms. However, optimal coloration for a given function may vary over environments (spatial or temporal) or conflict with other functions. Physiological color change (rapid change due to movement of pigment granules within chromatophores) may be an adaptation to resolve conflicting selective pressures on coloration. The proximate factors related to physiological color change are well known in many animals, but few studies have investigated the ecological or evolutionary implications of this behavior. Here, we present alternative hypotheses for physiological color change and discuss biotic and... |
| Tipo: Poster |
Palavras-chave: Ecology; Evolutionary Biology. |
| Ano: 2011 |
URL: http://precedings.nature.com/documents/6711/version/1 |
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