Crotalus cerastes

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iSidewinder

Sidewinder, Crotalus cerastes cerastes

Scientific classification

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

Binomial name

Crotalus cerastes
Hallowell, 1854

The Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes) is a rattlesnake that inhabits lowland deserts of the southwestern United States (Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah) and northern Mexico. The species is nocturnal during hot months and diurnal during the cooler months of its activity period, which is roughly from March to November (probably longer in the southern part of its range). Some people call this snake the horned rattlesnake because of the raised supraocular scales above its eyes.

The sidewinder is named for its unusual form of locomotion, which is thought to give it traction on windblown desert sand, but this peculiar locomotor specialization is used on any substrate that the sidewinder can move over rapidly. As its body progresses over loose sand, it forms a letter-J shaped impression, with the tip of the hook pointing in the direction of travel. Sidewinding is also the primary mode of locomotion in other desert sand dwellers, such as the Horned Adder (Bitis caudalis) and Peringuey's Adder (Bitis peringueyi), but many other snakes can assume this form of locomotion when on slick substrates (e.g., mud flats).

While the Sidewinder is venomous, it posesses a weaker venom than many other rattlesnakes, and the small size of the venom glands make it less dangerous than it's larger cousins. Still a bite is extremely dangerous and an untreated bite can easily be fatal.

This snake (like all rattlesnakes) is a pit viper, using its sensory pits to detect the infrared (heat) radiation of warm blooded potential prey and predators. The warhead and heat-seeking guidance system of the American-designed AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile (which is named for the snake) parallel the snake's sensory organs.

Juvenile Sidewinders use their tails to attract lizard prey (see video at http://people.vanderbilt.edu/~r.s.reiserer/luring.html), a behavior termed "caudal luring." Adult Sidewinders lose this behavior as they make the transition from lizard prey to their primary diet of desert rodents.

Sidewinders produce up to 18 young, with an average of about 10 per litter. Like other snakes in the family Viperidae, their young are born enveloped in thin embryonic membranes out of which they emerge shortly after being expelled from the mother. The young stay with their mother in a burrow for 7-10 days, shed for the first time, then leave their natal burrow. During this time, it is thought that the mother guards and protects them from predators.

Additional information on this species can be found at http://people.vanderbilt.edu/~r.s.reiserer/sidewinders.html