rattlesnake, evolution of rattlesnake

Evolution of the rattlesnake

how did the rattlesnake evolve? I am trying to help my grandson with his homework and he has to write a fable about the rattlesnake to include how the rattlesnake evolved. Can you help?

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4 Answers

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jkgrandma Answered:

Keep in mind that a fable is a story - so while his fable may very well have some factual basis, it is for the most part a fictional explanation of how or why things are the way they are. As a reference regarding format, you might want to read Rudyard Kipling's 'Just-so Stories' as well as 'Aesop's Fables' (as a bonus, the stories are enjoyable).

Meanwhile, here is a website with some basic information on rattlesnakes:

www.tigerhomes.org/animal/diamondback-rattlesnake.cfm.

Good luck!

Posted 3 years ago

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Barbara Answered:

Thank you for your reply. I went to the Smithsonian Institute website and searched for evolution of venous vipers. I found some research of the fangs and venom of various snakes. I did not know that venonmous snakes evolved from nonvenomous ancestors. So we did a story about a snake who had trouble holding his prey down. Wish us luck.

Posted 3 years ago

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bart Answered:

Perhaps your question was posed too long ago for this reply to make any difference.

But, for my two cents, I can't see any way that the rattlesnake DID evolve. By profession I'm a mechanical engineer involved in systems engineering, and venomous snakes are marvelous creatures with a complex killing mechanism. A folding pair of hypodermic needles, connected to a remote sac of pressurized venom via a venom ducts ... in an animal having a targeting mechanism and musculature to match. And that's just the hardware. Instinct is the accompanying software that contains precise instruction sets of range, appropriate targets, etc. Wow.

Trying to get there (step by small step) from non-venomous snakes seems quite problematic. Non-venomous snakes are quite specialized in other killing mechanics, like constriction. And regardless, a hollow fang does no good without poison, which does no good without instinct, which does no good without associated musculature ... I mean, I've tried drawing diagrams of possible intermediates, and it just gets quite difficult. You have to have several design innovations simultaneously.

So, maybe a good fable would be that a fairy godmother appeared and zapped the creature and made it a rattlesnake!