Meeting Abstract

5.4  Monday, Jan. 4  Use of Prehensile Tails in Cantilevering and Prey Capture in Treeboas, Corallus hortulanus FIGUEROA, Alex*; LAILVAUX, Simon; University of New Orleans afigueroa21@gmail.com

Arboreal habitats represent a complex mosaic of functional challenges for snakes. In addition to navigating branches of various size, shape and incline, arboreal snakes are often required to traverse relatively large gaps, a behavior known as cantilevering. Prey capture imposes further functional demands by requiring snakes to hold onto prey to ensure feeding success. Stout-bodied and ambush foraging arboreal snakes (e.g. boids and viperids) possess prehensile tails thought to be used for supporting the body during behavioral activities. Additionally, these snakes immobilize prey by constriction or envenomation. Here, we present data on the functional use of prehensile tails in Corallus hortulanus during both cantilevering and prey capture. We used a high-speed camera to measure the kinematics of snake performance in each ecological context and with both immobilized and unrestrained tails in order to test the hypothesis that prehensile tails play an important functional and stabilizing role in these arboreal snakes.