Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 13;7:40412. doi: 10.1038/srep40412.
Predation plays a central role in the lives of most organisms. Predators must find and subdue prey to survive and reproduce, whereas prey must avoid predators to do the same. The resultant antagonistic coevolution often leads to extreme adaptations in both parties. Few examples capture the imagination like a rapid strike from a venomous snake. However, almost nothing is known about strike performance of viperid snakes under natural conditions. We obtained high-speed (500 fps) three-dimensional video in the field (at night using infrared lights) of Mohave rattlesnakes (Crotalus scutulatus) attempting to capture Merriam's kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami). Strikes occurred from a range of distances (4.6 to 20.6 cm), and rattlesnake performance was highly variable. Missed capture attempts resulted from both rapid escape maneuvers and poor strike accuracy. Maximum velocity and acceleration of some rattlesnake strikes fell within the range of reported laboratory values, but some far exceeded most observations. Thus, quantifying rapid predator-prey interactions in the wild will propel our understanding of animal performance.
捕食在大多数生物的生活中起着核心作用。捕食者必须找到并制服猎物才能生存和繁殖，而猎物则必须避免被捕食者捕食才能生存和繁殖。由此产生的敌对共同进化常常导致双方的极端适应。很少有例子能像毒蛇的快速袭击那样引人入胜。然而，人们几乎不知道毒蛇在自然条件下的攻击性能。我们在野外（晚上使用红外线灯）获得了莫哈韦响尾蛇（Crotalus scutulatus）试图捕捉梅里亚姆袋鼠鼠（Dipodomys merriami）的高速（500 帧/秒）三维视频。攻击发生在不同的距离（4.6 到 20.6 厘米），响尾蛇的表现变化很大。未能捕获的原因既有快速的逃避动作，也有较差的攻击准确性。一些响尾蛇攻击的最大速度和加速度在报告的实验室值范围内，但有些远远超过了大多数观察结果。因此，在野外量化快速的捕食者-猎物相互作用将推动我们对动物性能的理解。
