Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 597-599 (2021) (published online on 29 March 2021)

First record of the lizard Uranoscodon superciliosus (Linnaeus, 1758) in the diet of the snake Dendrophidion dendrophis (Schlegel, 1837) in Amapá State, Brazil

Fernanda Souza Melo1, Rodrigo Tavares-Pinheiro1, Jéssica Stefany Costa Anaissi1, Eliza Maria Xavier Freire2, and Carlos Eduardo Costa-Campos1,*

Dendrophidion Fitzinger, 1843 currently comprises Available literature records on the diet of D. dendrophis 16 species (Uetz et al., 2020) of diurnal snakes with indicate that this species is a dietary specialist, preying semi-arboreal habits and slightly compressed bodies, on terrestrial and arboreal anurans (Table 1), as is distributed from southern Mexico to northern Brazil and another species of the genus (D. atlantica; Lima et al., Bolivia (Lieb, 1988; Martins and Oliveira, 1998; Freire 2019). The occurrence of U. superciliosus in the diet et al., 2010). Dendrophidion dendrophis (Schlegel, of D. dendrophis is therefore somewhat unexpected 1837) inhabits primary and secondary forests of the and makes the species appear less of a specialist than Amazonian region from eastern Ecuador and Peru previously thought, and perhaps a dietary opportunist in through northern Brazil to the Guianas (Chippaux 1986; certain circumstances. Our finding reiterates that reports Lieb, 1988; Cunha and Nascimento, 1993; Köhler, on the natural history of snakes, and particularly their 2008; Santos-Costa et al., 2015). We here report a new diet, in the Brazilian Amazon is of great importance prey item and review literature records reporting the when trying to understand the feeding patterns of widely diet of this species. distributed species, including D. dendrophis. To the best On 15 September 2020 at ca. 09:30 h, we collected of our knowledge, this is the first report of an arboreal an adult female D. dendrophis (total length 730 mm) lizard in the diet of D. dendrophis. that was moving on the ground along the edge of a stream (Água Fria) in the Extractive Reserve Beija-Flor Acknowledgments. We are grateful to Ricardo A. Kawashita- Brilho de Fogo, Pedra Branca do Amapari Municipality, Ribeiro for comments and a critical revision of the manuscript. Amapá State, Brazil (0.8265°N, 52.1893°W). Our The local guides Samuel, Judson, Rilton, and Jony assisted with fieldwork. We thank Secretaria Municipal do Meio Ambiente of analysis of stomach contents revealed one individual of Pedra Branca do Amapari (SEMAM) for permission to conduct the lizard Uranoscodon superciliosus (Linnaeus, 1758) our research and for support of our work in the region. Instituto with total length 459 mm (Fig. 1). The identification Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio/ of both animals followed the taxonomic keys in Ávila- SISBIO #48102-3) and SEMAM (process #011/2019) provided Pires (1995) and Fraga et al. (2013). Both specimens collection permits. have been deposited in the herpetological collection of the Laboratório de Herpetologia, Universidade Federal References do Amapá under accession numbers CECC 3541 (D. Ávila-Pires, T.C.S. (1995): Lizards of Brazilian Amazonia (Reptilia: dendrophis) and CECC 3612 (U. superciliosus). Squamata). Zoologische Verhandelingen 299(1): 1–706. Bernarde, P.S., Abe, A.S. (2010): Hábitos alimentares de serpentes em Espigão do Oeste, Rondônia, Brasil. Biota Neotropica 10: 167–173. 1 Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Ciências Cadena-Ortiz, H., Bahamonde-Vinueza, D., Brito, J. (2017): Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Amapá, Anecdotal predation events of some snakes in Ecuador. Macapá, Amapá 68903-419, Brazil. Herpetozoa 30: 93–96. 2 Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Botânica, Chippaux, J.P. (1986): Les Serpents de la Guyane Française. Paris, Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do France, Collection Faune Tropicale. Norte, Campus Central, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte 59072- Cunha, O.R., Nascimento, F.P. (1993): Ofídios da Amazônia. As 970, Brazil. cobras da região leste do Pará. Boletim do Museu Paraense * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Emílio Goeldi, Zoologia 9: 1–191. © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Dixon, J.R., Soini, P. (1986): The Reptiles of the Upper Amazon 598 Fernanda Souza Melo et al.

Figure 1. Dendrophidion dendrophis (A) and its prey, Uranoscodon superciliosus (B), collected in the Extractive Reserve Beija- Flor Brilho de Fogo, Pedra Branca do Amapari Municipality, Amapá State, Brazil. Photos by Carlos Eduardo Costa-Campos.

Basin, Iquitos Region, Peru. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi 3: 33–65. Milwaukee Public Museum. Natera-Mumaw, M. (2008): Nuevos registros geográficos y Duellman, W.E. (1978): The biology of an equatorial herpetofauna notas bioecológicas de Dendrophidion dendrophis (Schlegel, in Amazonian Ecuador. Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of 1837) y Dendrophidion nuchale (Peters, 1863) (Serpentes: Natural History, University Kansas 65: 1–352. Colubridae) em Venezuela, con comentários sobre la taxonomia Fraga, R., Lima, A.P., Prudente, A.L.C., Magnusson, W.E. (2013): de Dendrophidion nuchale. Herpetotropicos 44: 11–16. Guia de Cobras da Região de Manaus - Amazônia Central. Oliveira, J.C., Mendes, D.M.M., Neto, B.M.S. (2019): Natural Manaus, Brazil, Editora INPA. history notes. Dendrophidion dendrophis (Olive Forest Racer). Freire, E.M.X., Caramaschi, U., Gonçalves, U. (2010): A new Diet. Herpetological Review 50: 591–592. species of Dendrophidion (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Prudente, A.L.C., Maschio, G.F., Yamashina, C.E., Santos-Costa, Atlantic Rain Forest of northeastern Brazil. Zootaxa 2719: 62–68. M.C. (2007): Morphology, reproductive biology and diet Köhler, G. (2008): Reptiles of Central America. Second Edition. of Dendrophidion dendrophis (Schlegel, 1837) (Serpentes, Offenbach, Germany, Herpeton Verlag. Colubridae) in Brazilian Amazon. South American Journal of Lieb, C.S. (1988): Systematic status of the neotropical snakes Herpetology 2: 53–58. Dendrophidion dendrophis and D. nuchalis (Colubridae). Santos-Costa, M.C., Maschio, G.F., Prudente, A.L.C. (2015): Herpetologica 44: 162–175. Natural history of snakes from Floresta Nacional de Caxiuanã, Lima, J.H.A., Costa, R.D.L., Medeiros, V.M.C., Santos, E.M., eastern Amazonia, Brazil. Herpetology Notes 8: 69–98. Kokubum, M.N.C. (2019): Natural history notes. Dendrophidion Uetz, P., Hošek, J., Freed, P. (2020): Dendrophidion dendrophis. atlantica. Diet. Herpetological Review 50: 799. The Reptile Database. Available at: http://www.reptile-database. Martins, M., Oliveira, M.E. (1998): Natural history of snakes org. Accessed on 7 October 2020. in forests in the Manaus region, Central Amazonia, Brazil. Vanzolini, P.E. (1986): Levantamento herpetológico da Área Herpetological Natural History 6: 78–150. do Estado de Rondônia sob a Influência da Rodovia Br-364. Nascimento, F.P., Ávila-Pires, T.C.S., Cunha, O.R. (1987): Os Brasília, Brazil, CNPq. répteis da área de Carajás, Pará, Brasil (Squamata) II. Boletim Predation on Uranoscodon superciliosus by Dendrophidion dendrophis, Brazil 599

Table 1. List of species reported as prey of the snake Dendrophidion dendrophis.

Prey Group Reference

ANURANS

Aromobatidae Anomaloglossus stepheni (Martins, 1989) Martins and Oliveira (1998) Anomaloglossus sp. Martins and Oliveira (1998)

Craugastoridae Oreobates quixensis Jiménez de la Espada, 1872 Cadena-Ortiz et al. (2017)

Craugastoridae (Pristimantinae) Pristimantis conspicillatus (Günther, 1858) Duellman (1978) Pristimantis fenestratus (Steindachner, 1864) Martins and Oliveira (1998) Pristimantis sp. Martins and Oliveira (1998) Pristimantis sp. Bernarde and Abe (2010)

Hylidae Scinax sp. Martins and Oliveira (1998)

Leptodactylidae Adenomera andreae (Müller, 1923) Martins and Oliveira (1998); Prudente et al. (2017) Adenomera hylaedactyla (Cope, 1868) Prudente et al. (2017) Adenomera sp. Prudente et al. (2017) Physalaemus ephippifer (Steindachner, 1864) Prudente et al. (2017) Physalaemus sp. Prudente et al. (2017) Pseudopaludicola sp. Natera-Mumaw (2008)

Microhylidae Chiasmocleis shudikarensis Dunn, 1949 Oliveira et al. (2019) Not further classified Dixon and Soini (1986); Vanzolini (1986); Nascimento et al. (1987); Cunha and Nascimento (1993); Santos-Costa et al. (2015)

REPTILES

Tropiduridae Uranoscodon superciliosus (Linnaeus, 1758) this study

Accepted by Timothy Colston