Herpetology Notes, volume 13: 903-904 (2020) (published online on 16 November 2020)

A novel prey item of the tiger rat snake Spilotes pullatus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Chiapas, Mexico (Squamata: Colubridae)

Sarie Van Belle1 and Manuel de Luna2,*

The tiger rat snake Spilotes pullatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Park (17.4666º N, 92.0500º W; datum WGS 1984; 180 is a large (up to 2,650 mm), diurnal colubrid native to m elevation), municipality of Palenque, state of Chiapas, much of tropical America, from southern Tamaulipas Mexico, in a densely forested area in a tangle of vines in Mexico to extreme northeastern Argentina (Kohler, surrounding the trunk of a large tree at approximately 2003; Heimes, 2016). Surprisingly, little is known 3 m in height. SVB was alerted by a scream emitted regarding the diet of S. pullatus (Platt et al., 2016), by the squirrel that was being captured by the snake with only a few species having been identified as prey, (Figure 1A). The death of the squirrel was estimated to these include bats such as Molossus rufus Geoffroy, take less than 2 minutes, after which the snake took it in 1805 (Molossidae) and Artibeus jamaicensis Leach, its mouth by a hind leg (Figure 1B) and moved it about 1821 (Phyllostomidae) (Esbérard and Vrcibradic, 3 m upwards along the trunk of the tree, where it was 2007), rodents such as Nectomys sp., Oligoryzomys consumed. sp. (Cricetidae), Proechimys gardneri Silva, 1998 There are two species of squirrels (Rodentia: Sciuridae) (Echimyidae), and Coendou mexicanus (Kerr, 1792) inhabiting Palenque National Park (Hovárth et al., (Erethizontidae) (Kohler and Seipp, 1999; Marques 2008): Sciurus deppei Peters, 1863, a small squirrel (up and Sazima, 2004; Mendonça et al., 2011), and birds to 387 mm) that inhabits areas of dense vegetation and such as nestlings of Trogon sp. (Trogonidae) and eggs Sciurus aureugaster Cuvier, 1829, a large squirrel (up of Turdus sp. (Turdidae) (Marques and Sazima, 2004). to 573 mm) that is common even in human-transformed There is also the report of a specimen trying, but failing, areas (Ceballos, 2014). Since both species of squirrels to feed upon the eggs of a rufous-bellied thrush Turdus are very variable in coloration (Ceballos, 2014), it was rufiventris Vieillot, 1818 (Turdidae) (Silva et. al. 2013). not possible to confirmatively identify the species. Other recorded unidentified prey items include rodents However, we believe it to be more likely a specimen of (Sexton and Heatwole, 1965; Marques and Sazima, Sciurus deppei given that this species favours densely 2004; Marques et al., 2014; Platt et al., 2016), birds vegetated areas (Ceballos, 2014) like the one where the (Beebe, 1946; Marques and Sazima, 2004; Marques et event took place. al., 2014), bats (Marques and Sazima, 2004; Marques et al., 2014), marsupials (Marques and Sazima, 2004; Acknowledgments. We are very thankful to Juan Cruzado Cortés Marques et al., 2014), and possibly a frog (Martins and who helped us in trying to identify the species of the squirrel that Oliveira, 1999). was being preyed upon. SVB thanks the Mexican government (Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas and the On the 13th of April 2018 at 1640 h, Sarie Van Belle Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia) for granting (SVB) found an adult S. pullatus in Palenque National research permission to work in Palenque National Park. Our research was supported by a research grant from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (PAPIIT-UNAM project IN200216)

References 1 University of Texas at Austin, 2201 Speedway Stop C3200, Austin, Texas 78712, USA. Beebe, W. (1946): Field notes on the snakes of Kartabo, British 2 Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Manuel L. Barragán Guyana, and Caripito, Venezuela. Zoologica: Scientific Avenue, Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza, Contributions of the New York Zoological Society 31: 11–52. Nuevo León 66455, México. Ceballos, G. (2002): Mammals of Mexico. Baltimore, USA, Johns * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Hopkins University Press. 904 Sarie Van Belle & Manuel de Luna

Figure 1. Tiger rat snake Spilotes pullatus preying on a squirrel Sciurus sp. in Palenque National Park, municipality of Palenque, state of Chiapas, Mexico: (A) Snake capturing the squirrel (photo by Sarie Van Belle). (B) Snake taking the squirrel up in the canopy to consume it (screenshot of a video taken by Sarie Van Belle).

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