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Does the rattle of Crotalus durissus terrificus reveal its dietary history?
BACKGROUND: Environmental devastation threatens the survival of many species, including venomous snakes such as the South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus. This observation is based on the decrease of snakes collected and donated to Brazilian research institutes. Nevertheless, some...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
BioMed Central
2014
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4276105/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25540653 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1678-9199-20-53 |
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author | Martinez, Melissa Gaste Ducatti, Carlos Silva, Evandro Tadeu Sant’Anna, Savio Stefanini Sartori, Maria Márcia Pereira Barraviera, Benedito |
author_facet | Martinez, Melissa Gaste Ducatti, Carlos Silva, Evandro Tadeu Sant’Anna, Savio Stefanini Sartori, Maria Márcia Pereira Barraviera, Benedito |
author_sort | Martinez, Melissa Gaste |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Environmental devastation threatens the survival of many species, including venomous snakes such as the South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus. This observation is based on the decrease of snakes collected and donated to Brazilian research institutes. Nevertheless, some individuals have managed to survive and procreate. The question is how these snakes are adapting in these new environmental conditions. METHODS: To answer it, the carbon-13 level of rattlesnakes and their feed (either laboratory or wild mice) was evaluated by isotope-ratio mass spectrometry. Thus, rattle segments from 16 adults and 15 offspring of captive snakes, and of three wild newborn C. d. terrificus were evaluated as well as 17 Mus musculus mice captured in traps, four live feeder mice and the ration offered to mice at animal houses. RESULTS: The isotopic exchange time of the captive adult snakes (n = 16) varied between 33 and 37 months and of captive-born animals (n = 15), until reaching a plateau of equilibrium, varied from 18 to 24 months. Regarding the captured Mus musculus (n = 17), 88.23% (n = 15) were from a C(4) environment. Of the six rattle rings from offspring of captured C. d. terrificus, five were from a C(4) environment, whereas of the 170 rattle rings studied, 60% originated from a C(3) environment and 40% from a C(4.) The same carbon-13 values were found in captive snakes. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the present results, it can be inferred that most C. d. terrificus snakes (60%) fed animals from a C(3) environment; birds consist of an alimentary alternative for snakes, as well as rodents, small reptiles and amphibians; different venom compositions among snakes from the same region may be related to the food type; the primary rattle of offspring reflects the maternal diet during gestation; and, finally, the different rattle rings indicate the alimentary history of these animals. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1678-9199-20-53) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4276105 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | BioMed Central |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-42761052014-12-25 Does the rattle of Crotalus durissus terrificus reveal its dietary history? Martinez, Melissa Gaste Ducatti, Carlos Silva, Evandro Tadeu Sant’Anna, Savio Stefanini Sartori, Maria Márcia Pereira Barraviera, Benedito J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis Research BACKGROUND: Environmental devastation threatens the survival of many species, including venomous snakes such as the South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus. This observation is based on the decrease of snakes collected and donated to Brazilian research institutes. Nevertheless, some individuals have managed to survive and procreate. The question is how these snakes are adapting in these new environmental conditions. METHODS: To answer it, the carbon-13 level of rattlesnakes and their feed (either laboratory or wild mice) was evaluated by isotope-ratio mass spectrometry. Thus, rattle segments from 16 adults and 15 offspring of captive snakes, and of three wild newborn C. d. terrificus were evaluated as well as 17 Mus musculus mice captured in traps, four live feeder mice and the ration offered to mice at animal houses. RESULTS: The isotopic exchange time of the captive adult snakes (n = 16) varied between 33 and 37 months and of captive-born animals (n = 15), until reaching a plateau of equilibrium, varied from 18 to 24 months. Regarding the captured Mus musculus (n = 17), 88.23% (n = 15) were from a C(4) environment. Of the six rattle rings from offspring of captured C. d. terrificus, five were from a C(4) environment, whereas of the 170 rattle rings studied, 60% originated from a C(3) environment and 40% from a C(4.) The same carbon-13 values were found in captive snakes. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the present results, it can be inferred that most C. d. terrificus snakes (60%) fed animals from a C(3) environment; birds consist of an alimentary alternative for snakes, as well as rodents, small reptiles and amphibians; different venom compositions among snakes from the same region may be related to the food type; the primary rattle of offspring reflects the maternal diet during gestation; and, finally, the different rattle rings indicate the alimentary history of these animals. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1678-9199-20-53) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. BioMed Central 2014-12-09 /pmc/articles/PMC4276105/ /pubmed/25540653 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1678-9199-20-53 Text en © Martinez et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014 This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. |
spellingShingle | Research Martinez, Melissa Gaste Ducatti, Carlos Silva, Evandro Tadeu Sant’Anna, Savio Stefanini Sartori, Maria Márcia Pereira Barraviera, Benedito Does the rattle of Crotalus durissus terrificus reveal its dietary history? |
title | Does the rattle of Crotalus durissus terrificus reveal its dietary history? |
title_full | Does the rattle of Crotalus durissus terrificus reveal its dietary history? |
title_fullStr | Does the rattle of Crotalus durissus terrificus reveal its dietary history? |
title_full_unstemmed | Does the rattle of Crotalus durissus terrificus reveal its dietary history? |
title_short | Does the rattle of Crotalus durissus terrificus reveal its dietary history? |
title_sort | does the rattle of crotalus durissus terrificus reveal its dietary history? |
topic | Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4276105/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25540653 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1678-9199-20-53 |
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