For the past century , vipers were suppose to be the fast thing in nature , and they represented the tiptop of Hydra strike performance . Well , not so anymore , according to a new subject field published inBiology Lettersthis week . Harmless ophidian can come to just as tight as venomous ones .
For many snake , strike can serve two important purposes : catch quarry and defend against predators . But strike functioning has really only been measured in very few species . Despite in high spirits - speed picture taking in 1954 that point much slower strike velocities in rattlesnakes than in the main expected , vipers are still thought to have the fastest hit among all snakes .
To debunk the viper ’s strike , a University of Louisiana at Lafayette trio led byDavid Penningcompared the defensive strike performance of 14 Texas ratsnakes ( Pantherophis obsoletus ) with that of vipers : six western cottonmouths ( Agkistrodon piscivorus ) and 12 western diamond - backed rattlesnake ( Crotalus atrox ) . Each snake was award with a stuffed glove as a target , and the team measured defensive accelerations , velocities , and durations for the three species .
The strike performance of the ratsnakes match , and sometimes exceeds , that of the vipers . All three snakes had similar strike accelerations , velocity , and durations . To the right , you’re able to see the defensive strike of a ratsnake ( top ) and a rattler ( bottom ) immortalise at 250 frame per second .
The highest strike accelerations were 274 meter per second squared ( m / s2)by a ratsnake and 279 m / s2by a rattler – far greater than the jumping accelerations of black - tail jackrabbits and kangaroo puke .
One consequence of such impressive strike performances involves physiologic tolerance : speedy drumhead - first accelerations like that in snake strikes may reduce blood current to the brain . Humans rarely experience these accelerations . Fighter jet pilots launching from an aircraft flattop experience take - off acceleration of 27 to 49 m / s2 . Without anti - gravity lawsuit , they can fall behind consciousness at accelerations that are less than a quarter of the note value reach by snakes in this subject area . Even with anti - G cause , pilots lose the power to stand up up from sit around at accelerations of 30 thousand / s2 , and they ca n’t move their limbs when accelerations get through 78 yard / s2 .
The foresighted distances between a snake ’s philia and head might impair cranial roue flow during strikes , but work stoppage duration are very light . All three snake species can strike faster than the blink of an eye , which takes 202 millisecond in human race .
Mammalian start responses can activate muscles in 14 to 151 milliseconds , and they bring forth observable movement in as lilliputian as 60 to 395 milliseconds . But that ’s still too slow . Harmless and venomous snakes can achieve their target in about 50 to 90 millisecond .
Image in the text edition : D.A. Penning et al . , Biol Lett 2016
