This episode is all about questioning the assumption that snake male-male combat is driven by competition for mates. We look at a paper that presents evidence showing that food might be behind the combat. Species of the Bi-week returns for a variable and vibrant viper.

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Main Paper References:

Farrell TM, Gull HC, Boyce FS, Richter SC. 2024. Ritualized male–male combat resulting from intraspecific food competition in three Agkistrodon species. Journal of Ethology 42:83–88. DOI: 10.1007/s10164-024-00806-8.

Species of the Bi-Week:

Arteaga A, Pyron RA, Batista A, Vieira J, Meneses Pelayo E, Smith EN, Barrio Amorós CL, Koch C, Agne S, Valencia JH, Bustamante L, Harris KJ. 2024. Systematic revision of the Eyelash Palm-Pitviper Bothriechis schlegelii (Serpentes, Viperidae), with the description of five new species and revalidation of three. Evolutionary Systematics 8:15–64. DOI: 10.3897/evolsyst.8.114527.

Editing and Music:

Podcast edited by Alex – https://www.fiverr.com/alexanderroses

Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson

Species Bi-week theme – Michael Timothy

Other Music – The Passion HiFi, https://www.thepassionhifi.com