Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: What is the rattle of a rattlesnake made of?
The rattle is composed of a series of hollow, interlocked segments made of keratin, which are created by modifying the scales that cover the tip of the tail. The contraction of special "shaker" muscles in the tail causes these segments to vibrate against one another, making the rattling noise (which is amplified because the segments are hollow) in a behavior known as tail vibration.[1][38][39] The muscles that cause the rattle to shake are some of the fastest known, firing 50 times per second on average, sustained for up to three hours.[40]
Like other rattlesnakes, they have eyes with vertical pupils, and their tail has a rattle on it. The rattle is composed of keratin. Each time the snake sheds its skin, a new segment is added to the rattle, but the rattle is fragile and may break off, and the frequency of shedding can vary, so the snake's age cannot be determined by its length or number of segments.
The Rattlesnake is a snake made of 100 rattles who is the A-B-Sea Serpent's companion.
In more heavily populated and trafficked areas, reports have been increasing of rattlesnakes that do not rattle. This phenomenon is commonly attributed to selective pressure by humans, who often kill the snakes when they are discovered.[64] Non-rattling snakes are more likely to go unnoticed, so survive to reproduce offspring that, like themselves, are less likely to rattle.
Eventually, the worm scares the rooster off by wrapping a baby's rattle around his tail and masquerading as a rattlesnake. His disguise inadvertently attracts the attention of an amorous female rattlesnake who captures him in her coils and proceeds to woo and kiss the terrified worm. The rooster, realizing that the worm was in disguise, tries to grab him, but ends up seizing the female rattlesnake by mistake (who misinterprets his embrace for romantic intent).
Common names for "C. adamanteus" include eastern diamondback rattlesnake, eastern diamond-backed rattlesnake, eastern diamondback, diamond rattlesnake, diamond-back rattlesnake, common rattlesnake, diamond-back, diamond(-patch) rattler, eastern diamond-back (rattlesnake), eastern diamond rattlesnake, Florida diamond-back (rattlesnake), Florida rattlesnake, lozenge-spotted rattlesnake, rattler, rattlesnake, southeastern diamond-backed rattlesnake, southeastern diamond-backed rattler, southern woodland rattler, water rattle, water rattlesnake, and diamondback rattlesnake.
Rattlesnake Island is an island located on Lake Erie near Put-In-Bay, northeast of Port Clinton, Ohio. It is part of Put-in-Bay Township, in Ottawa County. It is one of several islands known as the Lake Erie Islands. The name Rattlesnake comes both from the actual rattlesnakes that used to inhabit the island, as well as from the overall shape of the island (two small islets near the tip resemble a rattlesnake's rattle).
Tail vibration behavior in rattlesnakes may have evolved from tail vibration in rattle-less ancestors. In support of this hypothesis are studies that show the similarity in specialized tail morphology and rate and duration of tail vibration between rattlesnakes are their closest relatives. The evolution of rattlesnake rattling from simple tail vibration behavior may, in fact, be an example of behavioral plasticity leading to the evolution of a novel phenotype.
It is unknown what benefit a snake derives from such fast speeds of tail vibration. One study did find that ground squirrels, Spermophilus beecheyi, are able to ascertain the threat level posed by a rattlesnake based on its rattling speed. Thus, it is possible that fast rattling speeds could be driven by predator-mediated selection, whereby snake predators avoid faster-vibrating individuals.
Snakes more closely related to rattlesnakes vibrate more quickly than do more distant rattlesnake relatives. In one study that measured tail vibration in 155 snakes representing 56 species, vibratory speed ranged from 9 vibrations per second (Bothriopsis taeniata) to 91 rattles per second (Crotalus polystictus). In the study, only two rattlesnakes (of 33 individuals filmed) had a maximum vibratory rate slower than the fastest non-rattlesnakes. The fastest non-rattlesnakes examined were species of Agkistrodon and New World Colubrids, both of which could sustain vibratory speeds up to about 50 rattles per second.
Tail vibration behavior in rattlesnakes is somewhat different from tail vibration in other snakes because rattlesnakes hold their tails vertically when tail vibrating, whereas other snakes hold the tail horizontally. Presumably, this is because the rattlesnake rattle produces its own noise, whereas snakes without rattles must vibrate the tail against the ground or some other object in order to make noise.
The speed of tail vibration is directly correlated with temperature, at least for rattlesnakes. The warmer a rattlesnake, the faster it vibrates its tail. Rattlesnakes tail-vibrate faster than other snakes, with some individuals nearing or exceeding 90 rattles per second. This makes rattlesnake tail vibration one of the fastest sustained vertebrate movements—faster than the wingbeat of a hummingbird. The movement is possible thanks to specialized “shaker” muscles in the rattlesnake tail.
According to Rubio, "The most widely accepted hypothesis for the evolution of the rattle is that the rattle is a warning device for predatory animals that might be a threat to the rattlesnake. It produces a signal to drive them away."[37]
Rattlesnakes travel with their rattles held up to protect them from damage, but in spite of this precaution, their day-to-day activities in the wild still cause them to regularly break off end segments. Because of this, the age of a rattlesnake is not related to the number of rattles on its tail.[1][39][40]
Opponents of the "caudal luring hypothesis" point out the lack of parsimony in such a process, since it would require the behavior to evolve from an offensive to a defensive context (extant rattlesnakes only use the rattle in defensive contexts). If rattlesnake rattling behavior evolved from tail vibration, it would require no such change in behavioral context. Additionally, some have suggested that a proto-rattle "could" have increased sound production if the modified tail tip increased noise production when vibrated against the substratum.
It has also been suggested that tail-vibrating nonvenomous snakes sympatric with rattlesnakes may be Batesian mimics of rattlesnakes that gain protection from predators by mimicking the rattling sound produced by rattlesnakes (all of which are venomous). This hypothesis does not explain why Old World nonvenomous snakes also tail-vibrate, since rattlesnakes are solely a New World taxa.
One popular myth is that the eastern diamondback rattlesnake must rattle before striking. To the contrary, it is quite capable of striking while remaining completely silent.
The Sonoran Desert has more species of rattlesnakes (11) than anywhere else in the world. The most common species is the extremely venomous Mojave rattler, which is considered the world's most dangerous rattlesnake. The largest rattle snake species here is the Western diamondback rattlesnake, while other species include the Black-tailed rattlesnake, Tiger rattler and Sidewinder rattler. Palm Springs is home to Tarantulas and various Scorpion species, including the Vinegaroon.
Generally, rattlesnakes invest little in offspring following birth. However, like other viperids, female tiger rattlesnakes invest in provisioning resources for developing embryos. She eats early in the pregnancy and then finds a safe place to hide while providing the optimal thermal environment for development.
Tiger rattlesnake embryos are retained inside the female in a transparent, membranous sac, where some materials and gases are exchanged between embryo and mother. Embryos receive fluids and sustenance from the yolk mass. Once born, neonates break through the embryonic sac and travel a short distance to a safe nook with its siblings. Young tiger rattlesnakes are not born with a rattle. Neonates have a skin cap at the tip of the tail, and after every molt, a new rattle segment is added. Like all rattlesnakes, tiger rattlesnakes are ovoviviparous and thus, are well developed at birth.
The name Cascabel derives from Spanish for "rattle", because an early settler killed a large rattlesnake here. Cascabel was a small farming community. The post office was started by Alex Herron, a small ranch and store owner, in 1916. When deciding what to name the Cascabel post office, Herron, while on the way to Benson, met a Mexican man with a dead rattlesnake. Herron asked what the name of the snake was and the man replied "Cascabel." This was the name Herron decided to name the post office. The post office was in operation until 1936.
In a study of the rattling made by rattlesnakes of different species, the Canadian zoologists Brock Fenton and Lawrence Licht found that the sounds are always similar: they have rapid onset (starting suddenly, and reaching full volume in a few milliseconds); they consist of a "broadband" mixture of frequencies between 2 kHz and 20 kHz, with little energy either in the ultrasonic (above 20 kHz) or in the rattlesnakes' hearing range (below 700 Hz); and the frequencies do not change much with time (the rattling after 2 minutes having a similar spectrum to that at onset). There was no clear difference in the sounds made by the different species measured: "Crotalus horridus", "Crotalus adamanteus", "Crotalus atrox", "Crotalus cerastes", "Crotalus viridis" and "Sistrurus catenatus". This pattern implies that the rattling "could serve as a general attention-getting device", which "is designed as a deimatic or startle display". Its similarity to the "broadband, harsh sounds" used as warning calls by birds and mammals may enhance its effectiveness. Since rattlesnakes can barely hear the sound, it is unlikely to serve as any form of communication to other snakes of the same species. Finally, the sounds are not in themselves loud enough to cause pain and hence keep predators away.
They are poor climbers. Natural predators include raptors such as hawks and eagles, roadrunners, wild hogs, and other snakes. When threatened, they usually coil and rattle to warn aggressors. They are one of the more aggressive rattlesnake species in the US in the way that they stand their ground when confronted by a foe. If rattling does not work, then the snake will strike in defense.
The most distinctive modification of the snake scale is the "rattle" of rattlesnakes, such as those of the genera "Crotalus" and "Sistrurus". The rattle is made up of a series of loosely linked, interlocking chambers that when shaken, vibrate against one another to create the warning signal of a rattlesnake. Only the bottom is firmly attached to the tip of the tail. 
At birth, a rattlesnake hatchling has only a small button or 'primordial rattle' which is firmly attached to the tip of the tail. The first segment is added when the hatchling sheds its skin for the first time. A new section is added each time the skin is shed until a rattle is formed. The rattle grows as the snake ages but segments are also prone to breaking off and hence the length of a rattle is not a reliable indicator of the age of a snake.
Other researchers have suggested that the rattle may have evolved originally to enhance caudal luring, and that caudal luring behavior therefore preceded defensive tail vibration in rattlesnakes. In support of this hypothesis, researchers suggest that a “proto-rattle” would not have increased sound production since rattles require a certain threshold of complexity (at least two overlapping rings of keratin) in order to produce sound. Proponents of this hypothesis suggest that a proto-rattle may have enhanced caudal luring, a behavior common to rattlesnakes and their closest relatives, because such a structure might have looked similar to an arthropod head. Those in support of this hypothesis also point out that specialized keratinized structures have evolved in caudal luring species before, such as in the spider-tailed horned viper, Pseudocerastes urarachnoides.
The rattlesnake (specifically, the Timber Rattlesnake) is especially significant and symbolic to the American Revolution. The rattle has thirteen layers, signifying the original Thirteen Colonies. Additionally, the snake does not strike until provoked, a quality echoed by the phrase "Don't tread on me." For more on the origin of the rattlesnake emblem, see the Gadsden flag.
At birth, a “prebutton” is present at the tip of the snake's tail; it is replaced by the “button” several days later when the first skin is shed. However, no sound can be made by the rattle until a second segment is added when the skin is shed again.[41] A new rattle segment is added each time the snake sheds its skin, and the snake may shed its skin several times a year, depending on food supply and growth rate.