New research shows rattlesnakes are social animals

Two western diamondback rattlesnakes intertwined in grass.
Two western diamondback rattlesnakes interacting near dens. Photo credit: Mark Davis

A new study, recently published in Ecology and Evolution, uses network analysis to understand the social lives of rattlesnakes, a group previously considered to be asocial animals.

Co-author of the study, Mark Davis, a conservation biologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey at the Prairie Research Institute, said this was the first time social network analysis tools have been used to study the behavior of snakes.

Read the full story: https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/7447/1886253864