SimorLP., R. Whittaker, and R. Shine. 7999. Morelb spilota(Australian carPet
python) Caudal luring. Herpetological Review 30:102-103.
MORELIA SPILOTA (Aus.ralian Carpet Pvthon) CAUDAL
LURJNG. Snakesof sev€nl phylogeneticlineagesutilize caudal
luring to attractprey.Caudalluring involvesa snakewaving its tail
rip suchthatit res€mblesa live worm or insect,inducingthepotential
prey item ro approachth€ snake(Healwole and Davidson 1976.
Herpetologica 32:332-336). Caudd luring appearsto be most
commonin "ambush"pledabrs, such as vipends,boids, and
pyhonids(Stdmple1995.LitteraturaSerpentium15:74-77).Caudal
luring seemsto be elicited more easily in juvenil€s thar in
conspecific adult snakes (Allen i949. Copeia 1949,225-226;
Rabarskyand Farell 1996.J. Herpetol.30:558-561).
Amongpythons,caudalluring hai beenrcportedin twoAustcalian
speries:the highly arborealMrrelia viidis (GreeneandCampbell
1982. Her?etologica28:32-34) and the semifossoial Aspidites
/arrrd)i (Wilson and Knowles 1988.Australia'sReptiles:A
PhotographicReferenceto the Terrcstdal Reptiles of Aushalia.
to this
Collins, Sydney.447 pp.). We can now addanotherspecie"s
list. We observedandfil-medcaudalluring in a young(4g-day-old)
Morelia spilota ncdowelli (coastal caryet python) ha.ched in
captivity. The snake's parents were collected near the town of
Bellingen on the northem coast of New SouahWales,in eastem
AusEalia.While fllming for a documentaryon p'tfton biology on 2
March 1996, one of us (PS) placed a $een tree trcg (Litotia
caerulea)in a hexagoml cage (90 cm across)that containedwo
hatcliling pythons.One snakethat was loosely coiled on branches
sev€.alcm abovethe groundimmediatelyorientedtowardsthefrog
andbegantwitching its tail-tip rapidly. The tail-tip was vibrated a
total of 23 timesover the cowseof the oexl severalhours.The firsa
17 of thesevibrations occurredwith the tail held >2 cm abovethe
head.The male then raisedits tail abovethe headand completed
six more vibrations.
We us€dframcby-ftame analysisof lhe film to quantify several
attsiburesof the tail-flicks exhibited.All of drc tail-flick initiated
ftom b€neaththe snake'sheadwerehorizontal,wher€asthe tail-tip
movedvertically in four of ihe six "above-head"uil-flicks. These
signficandy (C = 9.47, I df, P < 0.003 witl
Foportions differed
"Above-head"
venus "below-head' flicks did
Yate's con€ction).
nor differ significantly in tems of the arc over which the tail-tip
trav€lledon eachtail-flick (respectivemeanst SD = 91.3i 62.5"
vs. 77.9 t 33.4', ANOVA Frrr = 0.39, P = 0.54), the lotal duration
of the flick ( 1.09+ 0.32 s vs. 0.78t 0.34 s,ANovA Fp r = 2.90, P
= 0.10) or lhe delay betweensucc€ssiveflick (2.08 1 2.32 s vs.
1.48t 0.64 s, ANOVA Fl:r = 0.8?, P = 0.37). Howevet aboveheadflicks involveda muchgreaterpropodionof tlrc lotal tail length
(27.5t2,9% vers\s15.3X 8.1%,ANOVA Fr:r = 8.24,P < o.0l).
The frog showedno ovet responseto thesnake'sb€haviol but was
lat€r seizedand consumedby the snake.Pan of this film sequence
was includedin the completedfilm ('Python, The Sly Strangler."
RogerWhittaker Films fty Ltd).
Simolv P., R. Whittaker, and R. Shine. 1999-Morelinspilota(Australian carpet
plthon) Caudal luring. Herpetological Review 30:102-103.
Thecaudalluring exhibitedby tbrsyoungcarpctpythonwasvery
similar to that seer in other snakes that exhibit caudal luring,
including elapids(Capenter et a]. l9?8. J. Herpetol l2t514-577)
and viperids (Heatwoleand Davidson, op. cit) as well as other
pythonids(Rabalskyand Fanell, op cit). The potentialselective
"sir-and-waif' predatoNis
advantageof this behaviorto cryptic
obvious:it may substantiallyincreas€the numberof potentialprey
itemsthatapFoachthe snakecloselyenoughto be seized.Juvenile
ca+et pythonshave a diversediet, althoughaNrans appearto be
takenonly rarely (ShineandSlip 1990.Herpetologica46:283-290;
Shineand Fitzgorald1996.Biol. Conserv.76:I 13-122).The most
surprisingaspectof our rcport is that this distinctive behaviorhas
not b€dn reported previously, becausethe speciesinvolved is
abufldant,widely-distributed,well-studied in the field and
commonty maintainedand bred in captlvity (Barker and Barker
1994.Pyrhonsof the World. Volume I, Ausrralia.Ailvanced
\4varium Systems,lal@side,Cafifomia. 171pp.).
submiued by PHIL SIMON, RMB Darkwood Road,Thora,
NSW 2454 Australia, ROGER WHII'IAKE& The Stonehousq
Clavering Road, Seafofih, Sydney NSW 2092 Australia, and
RICITARD SHIND, Biological SciencesA08, The University of
Sydnen NSW 2006AusEaria(e-mail: [email protected]).