Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (15)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shine, R.
Right arrow Articles by Mason, R. T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Shine, R.
Right arrow Articles by Mason, R. T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Behavioral Ecology Vol. 14 No. 2: 251-256
© 2003 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

Behavioral shifts associated with reproduction in garter snakes

R. Shinea,, B. Phillipsa, H. Wayeb and R. T. Masonb

a School of Biological Sciences A08, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia b Zoology Department, Oregon State University, Cordley Hall 3029, Corvallis, OR 97331-2914, USA

Address correspondence to R. Shine. E-mail: rics{at}bio.usyd.edu.au.

Reproduction may involve profound modifications to behaviors such as feeding, antipredator tactics, and thermoregulation. Such shifts have generally been interpreted as direct consequences of reproduction but may instead be secondary effects of reproduction-associated changes in other traits such as habitat use. We quantified behaviors of red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) courting and mating at a communal den, and also of postreproductive snakes dispersing from the same den. Snakes at the den actively courted, did not feed, tolerated close approach by humans, and did not retaliate (bite) when seized by us. Dispersing snakes did not court, fed, fled from our approach, and bit when seized. Snakes of both groups were then transferred to outdoor arenas and retested. Courtship vigor by males, and attractiveness of females, had declined but not disappeared for the dispersing snakes. Snakes of both groups ate readily, showing that reproduction-associated anorexia was a facultative response to lack of prey in the den. Body temperature regimes were also similar in the two groups of snakes. Overall, many of the characteristic behavioral changes associated with reproduction were responses to features of the den environment (e.g., presence of sexual partners, lack of food) rather than to reproduction per se. The shift in antipredator responses, however, may reflect a neural or endocrine "switch," suggesting that the link between reproduction and other behaviors involves a diversity of proximate mechanisms.

Key words: antipredator, courtship, feeding, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis, thermoregulation.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
R. Shine, B. Phillips, T. Langkilde, D. I. Lutterschmidt, H. Waye, and R. T. Mason
Mechanisms and consequences of sexual conflict in garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis, Colubridae)
Behav. Ecol., July 1, 2004; 15(4): 654 - 660.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.