- Author: Robert J Keiffer
The UC Hopland Research & Extension Center has an abundance of Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus oreganus) and California Ground Squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi). The question, since the species are predator and prey, is how much has coevolution changed or "steered" genetic traits such as venom resistance in the squirrels, or venom toxicity in the snakes.
Matthew Holding, Ph.D. student (link to Matt's Blog here) from the Dept. of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at Ohio State University, has those questions in mind. He is seeking to uncover whether coevolution drives the genetic evolution of venom composition in the rattlesnakes and the resistance in prey (squirrels) within this system. His plan is to use lab-based methods to quantitatively assess whether ground squirrels from a given population show greater resistance to venom from resident (sympatric) as compared to non-resident (allopatric) rattlesnakes.
Here you see Matt getting ready to get a captured rattlesnake into the safe "holding tube" for taking measurements, blood samples, and scale clip. The bottom photo (photo #2) is a safe look at the snake from the end of the holding tube.