139 Can brownsnakes be bothered?

Elapid behaviour is not as well studied as we’d like, so in this episode we look at a couple of papers to cover more ground. One describing the changing morphology to optimise caudal luring, and another that looks at just how much you can bother a brownsnake before the worst happens. Become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/herphighlights Full reference list available here: http://www.herphighlights.podbean.com Main Paper References: Crowe-Riddell JM, Dix S, Pieterman L, Nankivell JH, Ford M, Ludington AJ, Simões BF, Dunstan N, Partridge JC, Sanders KL, Allen L. 2021. From matte banded to glossy black: structures underlying colour change in the caudal lures of southern death adders (Acanthophis antarcticus, Reptilia: Elapidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 132:666–675. DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa218. Whitaker PB, Ellis K, Shine R. 2000. The defensive strike of the Eastern Brownsnake, Pseudonaja textilis (Elapidae): Defensive strike of Eastern Brownsnake. Functional Ecology 14:25–31. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2435.2000.00385.x. Other Mentioned Papers/Studies: 28 (not 38) new species of gecko in New Caledonia: https://www.dropbox.com/s/69y399u22ujxusb/Bavayia_PCAS_Nov_2022.pdf?dl=0  Editing and Music: Podcast edited by Emmy – https://www.fiverr.com/emmyk10  Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson Species Bi-week theme – Michael Timothy Other Music – The Passion HiFi, https://www.thepassionhifi.com