Abstract
Death adders (genus Acanthophis) differ from most other elapid snakes, and resemble many viperid snakes, in their thickset morphology and ambush foraging mode. Although these snakes are widely distributed through Australia and Papua New Guinea, their basic biology remains poorly known. We report morphological and ecological data based upon dissection of >750 museum specimens drawn from most of the range of the genus. Female death adders grow larger than conspecific males, to about the same extent in all taxa (20% in mean adult snout-vent length, = SVL). Most museum specimens were adult rather than juvenile animals, and adult males outnumbered females in all taxa except A. pyrrhus. Females have shorter tails (relative to SVL) than males, and longer narrower heads (relative to head length) in some but not all species. The southern A. antarcticus is wider-bodied (relative to SVL) than the other Australian species. Fecundity of these viviparous snakes was similar among taxa (mean litter sizes 8 to 14). Death adders encompass a broad range of ecological attributes, taking a wide variety of vertebrate prey, mostly lizards (55%), frogs and mammals (each 21%; based on 217 records). Dietary composition differed among species (e.g. frogs were more common in tropical than temperate-zone species), and shifted with snake body size (endotherms were taken by larger snakes) and sex (male death adders took more lizards than did females). Overall, death adders take a broader array of prey types, including active fast-moving taxa such as endotherms and large diurnal skinks, than do most other Australian elapids of similar body sizes. Ambush foraging is the key to capturing such elusive prey.
Highlights
Information on snake ecology and behavior has accumulated substantially over recent years
Our analysis was based on two operational taxonomic units (OTUs) from mesic southern Australia, two from the Australian arid zone (A. pyrrhus and A. wellsi), one from tropical Australia (A. ‘‘praelongus’’) and one from Papua New Guinea (PNG) (A. ‘‘laevis-rugosus’’)
Population Structure The proportion of museum specimens examined that were adult rather than juvenile ranged from 54% in A. pyrrhus to 86% in southwestern Australian A. antarcticus; all other species were within the range 54–65% adults
Summary
Information on snake ecology and behavior has accumulated substantially over recent years. That situation reflects logistical impediments to ecological research: many snakes are rare, often inactive, and highly cryptic, rendering them difficult to study using conventional methods. The measurement and dissection of preserved snakes in museum collections offers a simple alternative method to quantify many fundamental ecological traits. Even for rare species, considerable information can be obtained on important life history attributes such as body sizes at maturity, sexual size dimorphism, reproductive output and, because snakes ingest relatively large and whole prey items, dietary composition. Museum-based studies provide a straightforward first step towards understanding the ecological characteristics of poorly known snake taxa and can provide long-term data for temporal and geographic comparison. Such work can be conducted with simple and inexpensive equipment, and is suitable for parts of the world where limited funding and/or scientific infrastructure preclude other technologies
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