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Melanistic adder - Devon |
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Mark_b
Senior Member Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 155 |
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Posted: 08 Sep 2011 at 9:37pm |
My first ever black adder on a recent weekend to Devon |
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dave fixx
Senior Member Joined: 13 Mar 2007 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 411 |
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very nice indeed ,thanks for sharing Mark,still not seen one myself.
Dave |
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Dave Williams
davewilliamsphotography.co.uk |
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tim hamlett
Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1062 |
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lovely!
really nice pose and pic as well tim
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Suzy
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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I live in Devon and have only ever seen one on a photo that my brother took as it slithered away. So I didn't see it myself. We revisited the site many, many times but never saw it again. Lucky you!
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Suz
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Suzy
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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I would be interested to know a few things about these black adders. Do they pass the melanism down genetically? Male or female line? Is it linked to particular habitats/parts of country?
I think I've mentioned this on here before but over 20 years ago my sister and mother were holidaying on the Solway coast at Rockcliffe. They had rented a cottage and the landlady said to them that if they walked on the coastal path to beware of the black adders. Sure enough on their first walk they saw one! |
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Suz
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Not sure it is proven in Adder Suz but it has been shown in other species of snakes that melanism is controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance. In other words a melanistic adder has two recessive alleles, one from each parent. The parent may/may not have been melanistic itself but must have carried at least one recessive allele.
I've read papers weighing up the advantages/disadvantages. Melanistic reptiles heat up quicker, but are more prone to predation in typical habitats. It's always possible that in a given habitat melanism might give an edge and therefore the recessive gene would come to the fore in the population. I've heard stories that black adders were more common around charcoal burning sites. Before Darwin I would guess people would think they turned black because of all the charcoal, now we might presume that black adders were basking on the blackened bonfires and very well camouflaged so prevailed. (remembering here that if the surviving males and female were all melanistic themselves, their offspring are destined also to be melanistic)
Edited by GemmaJF - 10 Sep 2011 at 1:40pm |
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Mark_b
Senior Member Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 155 |
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Well when we first saw this individual we thought it was a big shiny horse stool which most other patches of grass were dotted with, coincidence I think not! I wouldn't of thought a buzzard would be able to pick it out among the crowd of droppings.
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Mark, I think you should write a paper entitled "Horse stool mimicry in Vipera berus"
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tim-f
Senior Member Joined: 13 Apr 2008 Location: Bristol, UK Status: Offline Points: 208 |
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