Monday, April 2, 2012

Cover models

The snakes of Chimineas Ranch have made it onto the surface of the journal Brain, Behavior, and Evolution. Behold! It's just so beautiful.


Back cover text reads:
A male Northern Pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus o. oreganus, larger snake) is seen courting a female one day following experimental translocation away from this same female. The snake navigated back to this female in less than 24 hours from 225 meters away. Inset: Cresyl violet-stained cross-section through the telencephalon of an adult male that received experimental translocations in the field. The medial and dorsal cortices are clearly visible. Photo courtesy Matthew Holding.

The paper was published online a while back, but there's something about seeing the creatures and tissue on the cover that gives me a big shiver. This study was Chapter 1 of my former graduate student Matt's thesis. It's one of the best studies I have been a part of.

The paper can be downloaded here.