Santa Catalina Island Rattlesnake

Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Class:
Reptilia
Order:
Squamata
Suborder:
Serpentes
Family:
Viperidae
Subfamily:
Crotalinae
Genus:
Crotalus
Species:
C. catalinensis

Rattlesnakes all breed the same way. All offspring are born alive, like miniature versions of their parents. They are considered ovoviviparous. Since the time of birth, these snakes are pretty much on their own. Only the fittest, I guess you could say, survive. The rattlesnake’s venom is more toxic when they are young. They also are born without rattlers, which might help them sneak up on their prey. This particular breed of rattlesnake also happens to loose its rattler after it has grown and had its first shed.
Since the rattlesnake is not cared for by its parents, I think I will choose the fact that this small rattler has very potent venom when it is young. I would choose their venom because it is more toxic at a younger age, and it would be useful in making antivenoms. I would try to see if there was a way to make the snake produce more venom than normal. I do believe that it would take lost of biochemistry in order to complete this task, if at all possible. If more venom was able to be made by these snakes, then we could have these snakes mate on a large scale, and keep secreting venom for antivenom.
I have come to a stand still in my experiment. I have just realized the potential for a new species. This new species could potentially grow small, short, stubby legs. After trying to find out if this type of snake could yield more venom, we noticed that its gene makeup is very similar to that of certain gecko species. If we could splice their genes together they would probably grow legs, which could make them potentially an even bigger threat to humans, and other species.
I recommend that we proceed with the antivenom experiment, but not the splicing of genes for a new species. This new species, to me, has no usefulness and would probably be better of extracted from society. I do believe it is ethical to proceed with the antivenom experiment. These snakes are very harmful to humans, and antivenom is always useful and sometimes scarce to come across. I recommend we start by December. This will give us plenty of time to collect these rattlesnakes, and potentially have them mate for our first experiments.

http://www.120.it/pet/Food/Reptile/Snake/snake_reproduction.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_catalinensis

Santa Catalina Island Rattlesnake

Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Class:
Reptilia
Order:
Squamata
Suborder:
Serpentes
Family:
Viperidae
Subfamily:
Crotalinae
Genus:
Crotalus
Species:
C. catalinensis
Binomial name
Crotalus catalinensis


The Santa Catalina Island Rattlesnake is only found on the Isla Santa Catalina. It is located in the Gulf of California of the southern of the Baja California peninsula. This species is classified as Critically endangered on the IUCN. This rattlesnake is in risk of extremely high extinction because it geographic range is less than 100 km squared.

The scientific name for this species is Crotalus catalinensis. One of the distinct features of this snake is that it has no rattle at all. At the start of a new shed, the rattle simply falls off instead of forming a new segment. There are two color variations this species has. The first is a cream colored base, with reddish-brown blotching down its back, and black and white bands around the tail. The other variation is an ash gray, with darker blotching. The band around the tail is still the same. The rattlesnake is small and can reach a length of about 74 cm.

This species is a vertabrate animal, more commonly known as a reptile. The habitat in which this snake is found is in the Gulf Coast Desert Plains. It is found on the western side of the island within many arroyos. It is thought that these snakes, due to their size and being rattleless can manuever throughout trees and feed on many roosting birds without alerting them with their presence. They will hang onto their prey unlike most rattlesnakes. This is thought to be due to their tracking problems after the prey is bitten.

These species are susceptible to extinction because they occur on one island only, collecting problems, and the introduction of feral cats to the island. There are few conservation plans directed toward these snakes due to the negative attitudes towards snakes in general.

I do not know if there is any impact of global warming on this particular species, but im sure there probably is one. If I had to guess I would say that since their feeding habits are much high in the summers, or on hotter days that if birds, lizards, or other prey were to start dieing then it would affect the snakes as well. If their prey dies, they dont have much to eat, and they therefore die off as well.

References:

Picture: http://www.bluechameleon.org/Field%20Herpers%20Forum%20Pics/-%20Crotalus%20catalinensis.jpg

http://eco.ib.usp.br/labvert/crotalus-catalinensis-copeia.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_catalinensis

http://www.sdnhm.org/fieldguide/herps/crot-cat.html