Meeting Abstract

104.3  Wednesday, Jan. 7  Anaconda locomotion: Gait transitions and a novel form of terrestrial locomotion YOUNG, B.A.; University of Massachusetts at Lowell Bruce_Young@uml.edu

Snakes have traditionally been divided into "sit and wait" ambushers and active foragers. The former group is typified by slow moving heavy-bodied snakes that rely on venom (vipers) or constriction (pythons) to capture their prey. The primary goal of this study was to document the locomotor kinematics and gait transitions of a species that presumably has no specializations for terrestrial locomotion. The anaconda (Eunectes) is a relatively basal taxa, primarily aquatic, predominantly a sit and wait ambush forager, and is among the largest snakes in the world. This study incorporated a combination of standard and high-speed digital videography, as well as force plate analysis, to explore the terrestrial locomotion. Four distinctive gaits were documented; gait sequuence and the velocity at gait transition were highly influenced by substrate and environmental factors. These snakes exhibited a previously undescribed form of high-speed locomotion, herein termed collateral locomotion. Using this form of propulsion, these heavy bodied snakes were able to move at rates of several body lengths per second.