ScienceDaily
(Nov. 27, 2012) — Orsini's viper, a rare and protected species at risk of
extinction in France, has an original reproductive strategy. In alternate
years, it switches between reproductive and non-reproductive behavior. This
strategy has recently been uncovered by a team from the Laboratoire Ecologie et
Evolution (CNRS/UPMC/ENS), the Centre de Recherche en Ecologie Expérimentale et
Predictive (CNRS/ENS)(1), and the Université Paris Sorbonne. Based on a
detailed analysis of field data collected over thirty years (on Mont Ventoux)
and on mathematical modeling, the researchers demonstrated the advantages of
this life history strategy. Far from being a constraint on the species, it
allows Orsini's viper to make a better quality investment in reproduction, with
no physiological cost or risk to parental survival.
These
results were published online in the journal Functional Ecology on 23
November 2012.
Orsini's
viper is a small insectivorous snake that is rare and extremely threatened in
France. Since the early 1980s, a population of Orsini's vipers on Mont Ventoux
has been the subject of an in-depth monitoring study. In total, 160 females
were monitored throughout their lives, revealing that adult specimens (which
can live for more than 12 years) regularly alternate between reproductive and
non-reproductive years. A mathematical model confirmed that natural selection
could induce alternation between reproductive years and years of growth.
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