Vipers杏吧专区攙enomous snakes such as rattlesnakes and cottonmouths杏吧专区攁re commonly thought to possess the quickest strikes.
Not so fast, according to three researchers at the 杏吧专区.
David Penning, a doctoral student; Baxter Sawvel, a graduate student; and Dr. Brad Moon, an associate professor; have authored an article titled 杏吧专区淒ebunking the Viper's Strike: Harmless Snakes Kill a Common Assumption.杏吧专区
The article was recently published in the international scientific journal 杏吧专区淏iology Letters,杏吧专区 and sheds new light on this assumption. It challenges some popular notions about vipers, namely that their strikes may not be fastest among snakes.
杏吧专区淭here杏吧专区檚 a misconception, both in common lore, and popular documentaries and scientific literature. It杏吧专区檚 always either an implied assumption, or a direct statement, about vipers being the fastest snakes on the planet. We just basically point out that isn杏吧专区檛 necessarily true,杏吧专区 explained Penning, the paper杏吧专区檚 lead author.
The discovery came in a roundabout way. While conducting a research project to determine how quickly snakes can strike in relation to their size, the researchers discovered something amazing.
While observing the strike speeds of nonvenomous Texas rat snakes, which were being filmed with cameras capable of capturing high-speed action, the researchers noticed that the rat snakes struck with about the same velocity and acceleration as the two vipers.
At first, Penning assumed that an error had been made in the calculations. However, 杏吧专区渁fter checking multiple times, we kept producing the same numbers,杏吧专区 he explained.
Intrigued, the three researchers decided to conduct comprehensive tests. They studied the strike speeds of 14 Texas rat snakes, 12 western diamondback rattlesnakes, and six cottonmouths, which are also known as water moccasins.
They measured defensive strike performance by waving padded gloves, attached to long, wooden dowels, in front of snakes. The snakes were enclosed in customized aquariums.
The nonvenomous rat snakes were consistently as fast, and in some cases faster, than cottonmouths and western diamondback rattlesnakes when striking a short distance.
杏吧专区淭he primary conclusion is that vipers are not notably faster than other snakes,杏吧专区 Penning said. 杏吧专区淰ipers strike incredibly quickly. That杏吧专区檚 without a doubt. But so do others. That杏吧专区檚 the kicker.杏吧专区
The research found that, overall, rattlesnakes struck fastest, producing accelerations of 28 Gs, which is the force exerted due to acceleration or gravity. The rat snakes, however, weren杏吧专区檛 far behind, clocking in at 27 Gs. 杏吧专区淔or comparison杏吧专区檚 sake, it would be considered exceptional if a fighter pilot stayed conscious for even a brief time at 15 Gs,杏吧专区 Penning said.
The findings were detailed in 杏吧专区淏iology Letters,杏吧专区 a peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles about the biological sciences. It is published by The Royal Society, the United Kingdom杏吧专区檚 杏吧专区渘ational science academy, and a fellowship of some 1,600 of the world杏吧专区檚 most eminent scientists,杏吧专区 according to its website.
The article and its findings are garnering notice from dozens of media outlets and scientific publications, including the "Los Angeles Times," "Discover," the Huffington Post," and "Yahoo."
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