Origin of Red-Tail?

[Mendel's Balls]

How did the red-tail boa get its red-tail? Why did it evolve? What function does it serve?

[Mendel's Balls]

In honor of the HPOTM winner, I am resurrecting this dead thread.

Perhaps no one answered because no one has came up with a plausible evolutionary speculation. Or it just might have got lost in the mix of things.

I ask this question then-does the vibrant-ness of the tail depend on the sex of the boa?

[Adam_Wysocki]

Camo.

-adam

[Mendel's Balls]

Camo.

-adam

Ok so what's it blending in with?

[Adam_Wysocki]

Ok so what's it blending in with?

The idea of camouflage the way nature designed it isn't always to "blend" ... in this case it is most likely breaking up the natural pattern of the snake when held against a background like a tree branch. Light shining through South and Central American canopies creates funky patterns on everything ... the strong contrast of colors does a good job of obfuscating a part of he body that normally isn't covered up when in a resting position and that also at times has a strong scent.

When a squid squirts ink, that is defined by biologists as a form of camouflage, but the ink doesn't blend with anything ... it just hides the squid while it makes it's get away.

Nature doesn't play "inside the box".

does the vibrant-ness of the tail depend on the sex of the boa?

Given the poor eye sight of snakes and the fact that they see an extremely limited spectrum of colors, I don't see how it’s logical to deduce coloration would have anything to do with interspecies behaviors if that's where you were going?

-adam

[Mendel's Balls]

The idea of camouflage the way nature designed it isn't always to "blend" ... in this case it is most likely breaking up the natural pattern of the snake when held against a background like a tree branch. Light shining through South and Central American canopies creates funky patterns on everything ... the strong contrast of colors does a good job of obfuscating a part of he body that normally isn't covered up when in a resting position and that also at times has a strong scent.

When a squid squirts ink, that is defined by biologists as a form of camouflage, but the ink doesn't blend with anything ... it just hides the squid while it makes it's get away.

Nature doesn't play "inside the box".



Given the poor eye sight of snakes and the fact that they see an extremely limited spectrum of colors, I don't see how it’s logical to deduce coloration would have anything to do with interspecies behaviors if that's where you were going?

-adam

Nice post.......really opened my eyes to "camflouging" so to speak

and yes that's what I was thinking......thanks for the response.

Mike

[JimiSnakes]

I always thought it was a distraction tool. Like, "Come her and look at the pretty red thing wiggling" Then "Wham!!" Gotchya. Dinner is on!

[Mendel's Balls]

the strong contrast of colors does a good job of obfuscating a part of he body that normally isn't covered up when in a resting position and that also at times has a strong scent.

Cool....anyone know who their natural predators are? (i.e. who RTB are prey for?)

[Adam_Wysocki]

I always thought it was a distraction tool. Like, "Come her and look at the pretty red thing wiggling" Then "Wham!!" Gotchya. Dinner is on!

I had considered it, but I would think too big to be a "lure" given the size of some of the tails I've seen ... typically snakes with "lures" like on a GTP are only a small enough fraction of the tail to draw interest.

When I think about it, I just keep hearing my drill instructor in boot camp preaching about breaking up the natural shapes and shadows that your face has when putting on camo face paint ... the "eye" is an easy thing to trick when it's attached to a brain.

-adam

[Adam_Wysocki]

Cool....anyone know who their natural predators are? (i.e. who RTB are prey for?)

I know Jaguar for sure ... I've got to dust off my thinking cap for anything beyond that ... I have a buddy that goes down there every couple of years that I could call actually.

-adam