A radiotelemetric study of movements and thermal biology of insular Chinese pit-vipers (Gloydius shedaoensis, Viperidae)

Abstract

Because of their low metabolic costs, ectothermic predators can specialise on prey resources that are available for only a brief period each year. Endemic pit-vipers (Gloydius shedaoensis) on a small island in north-eastern China offer an extreme example of this phenomenon, with adult snakes feeding only on seasonally migrating birds that are available for a few weeks in spring and autumn. We surgically implanted radiotransmitters in 16 pit-vipers, and located the snakes at weekly intervals for the next 12 months to record activity, movements, home ranges, habitat use, body temperatures and associated environmental temperatures. The snakes were extremely sedentary, with daily displacements a..