Alexandra Coulouris
Research Mentor(s): Alison Davis Rabosky
Mentor Department: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Authors: Alexandra Coulouris, Natasha Stepanova, Michael Hogan, Ramon Nagesan, Alison R. Davis Rabosky
Session: Session 1 (9:00am – 9:50am)
Presentation Type: Poster 71
Abstract
Organisms frequently undergo adaptations to survive in their specific habitat, and many sand-dwelling snakes have independently adapted to a specialized type of locomotion. Sidewinding involves snakes thrusting their heads forward while lifting their body, rather than more common lateral undulation. While extensive behavioral research has been done on sidewinders, the morphology of these species is largely unexplored. As some snakes have been observed to sidewind almost exclusively, and others only occasionally, we aim to improve understanding of the morphological differences in vertebrae between sidewinders and non-sidewinders and their evolutionary relationship. In this study, we analyzed CT scans of seven closely related specimens from the Viperidae family in the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology’s collection, and segmented portions of the vertebral column with the program VGStudios. With this visualized data, we are able to create 3-D models and measure the range of motion between pairs of vertebrae. If there is little meaningful difference between the vertebral columns of these two groups, this may indicate that morphology is not the only factor that enables sidewinding. If there is an observed difference in the vertebral column between the two different groups, this may indicate instead that sidewinding is enabled by a specimen’s vertebral morphology. Other balance structures, such as the inner ear, must be analyzed as well to truly uncover the comparative morphology of sidewinders. Ultimately, our work intends to deepen understanding of how locomotor behavior relates to morphology, and convergent evolution as a whole.
