Laterality in coiling behaviour of snakes: Another interpretation

Abstract

The direction of coiling was periodically recorded for two species of viperid snakes—copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix) and cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus). Overall, neither species showed a significant preference for coiling in a particular direction. Only 1 of 22 snakes exhibited an individual preference, a result within expectation for random direction of coiling when using a 5% rejection level for statistical testing. A previously published claim for laterality in coiling direction by cottonmouths presented similar results but came to the opposite conclusion. The data from the combined studies suggest that if laterality in coiling direction does occur, it is extremely weak and inconsistent.

Acknowledgements

We thank the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service for support of this project and Michael Bowen, Robert Grossfeld, John Temple, Herbert Underwood, John Vandenbergh, Courtney Long, and Martha Flanagan for their constructive reviews of the manuscript.