Cfreptiles & Amphibians

Home , Alsophis, Anolis cristatellus, Borikenophis

WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & IRCFAMPHIBIANS REPTILES • VOL 15,& NAMPHIBIANSO 4 • DEC 2008 •189 27(1):105–106 • APR 2020

IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURE ARTICLES Envenomation. Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi ) ofin Wisconsin: a Puerto Rican Whiptail On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 (Pholidoscelis. The Shared History of Treeboas exsul (Corallus grenadensis: )Teiidae) and Humans on Grenada: by a Puerto Rican A Hypothetical Excursion ...... Robert W. Henderson 198 RacerRESEARCH (Borikenophis ARTICLES portoricensis: Dipsadidae) . The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ...... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida ...... in SouthernBrian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Puerto Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan,Rico and Michael Granatosky 212

CONSERVATION ALERT Alejandro J. Sánchez Muñoz . World’s Mammals in Crisis ...... 220 . More Than Mammals36 ...... Calle Nevarez, Apt. 3-G, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00927 ([email protected])...... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ...... 225 Photographs by the author. HUSBANDRY . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ...... Shannon Plummer 226

PROFILE enodontine snakes. Kraig are Adler: widely A Lifetime distributed Promoting Herpetology members ...... of At 1100 h on 25 May Michael 2018 L. Treglia in Camp 234 Santiago, southeast- XWest Indian island herpetofaunas. Among these, snakes ern Puerto Rico, I encountered a small (~30 cm total length) in the genus BorikenophisCOMMENTARY (formerly Alsophis) occur on the Puerto Rican Racer that had captured a juvenile Puerto Rican . The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ...... Eric Gangloff 238 Puerto Rican, Saint Croix, and Mona Banks (Mayer 2012). Whiptail (Pholidoscelis exsul). The snake had punctured the Dentition is opishtoglyphousBOOK REVIEW (Weldon and Mackessy 2009) lizard’s neck with its right fang before consuming its prey . Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, and small vertebrates, particularlyR. Berridge, P. Ramani, frogs and and B.E. lizards, Young ...... comprise (Figs. 1–2). Instances of this Robert Powellsnake 243 using its rear fangs to the primary prey (Rivero 1998). inject venom into struggling prey have been documented The Puerto Rican CONSERVATION Racer (Borikenophis RESEARCH portoricensisREPORTS: Summaries) is a of Published(Henderson Conservation Researchand Powell Reports ...... 2009). Although 245 racers are not con- medium-sized snake NATURALwith larger HISTORY individuals RESEARCH reaching REPORTS a: totalSummaries of Publishedsidered Reports powerful on Natural constrictors History ...... despite 247having used constriction  NEWBRIEFS ...... 248 length slightly over oneEDITORIAL meter (personalINFORMATION observation)...... It is an to kill laboratory mice in captivity...... (Rodríguez-Robles 251 1992), active diurnal forager FOCUS that is ON mainly CONSERVATION terrestrial: Abut Project will You readily Can Support ...... this snake had thrown several coils around 252 the lizard to hold climb trees. The species can be relatively common in certain it prior to ingestion. areas of Puerto Rico and is found even in some urban environ- The lizard initially struggled actively against its attacker. ments near the capital city of San Juan (personal observation). However, within seconds of the first observation, it became Although usually considered harmlessFront Cover. to Shannon humans, Plummer. these motionlessBack Cover. and Michael began Kern to expel blood from its mouth. I have Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo racers effectively use venom to subdueestibus inveliquo prey (Thomasvelique rerchil and seenestibus similar inveliquo veliquesymptoms rerchil in Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana; Prieto-Hernandez 1985; Rivero 1998).erspienimus, Under quos experimentalaccullabo. Ilibus erspienimus,Fig. 3) and quos accullabo.Puerto Ilibus Rican Crested Anoles (Anolis cristatellus) aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum conditions, the venom of B. portoricensisfugiatis hasmaionsequat been foundeumque to be afterfugiatis been maionsequat bitten eumqueby racers. Presumably, the snake’s venom hemolytic and highly toxic to both lizardsmoditia erere and nonsedis mice ma (Weldon sectiatur quicklymoditia erere began nonsedis destroying ma sectia- highly vascularized lung tissues, one ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as and Mackessy 2009). accullabo. of the first tissues affected by the venom of B. portoricensis

Fig. 1. A juvenile Puerto Rican Racer (Borikenophis portoricensis) envenomating a small Puerto Rican Whiptail (Pholidoscelis exul). Using several coils to hold its prey, the snake had punctured the lizard’s neck with its right fang (A) before bringing both rear fangs into play (B). Within seconds, the lizard was motionless and expelled blood from its mouth (C).

Fig. 2. A juvenile Puerto Rican Racer (Borikenophis portoricensis) ingesting a small Puerto Rican Whiptail (Pholidoscelis exul).

Fig. 3. An adult Puerto Rican Racer (Borikenophis portoricensis) swallowing a juvenile Common Iguana (Iguana iguana) in captivity. The blood evident on the lizard initially emerged as froth from its mouth before ingestion began.

(Rodríguez-Robles and Thomas 1992), in this case causing Amphibians. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. the prey to suffocate in its own blood before being consumed. Mayer, G.C. 2012. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, pp. 136–147. In: R. Powell and R.W. Henderson (eds.), Island lists of West Indian amphibians and rep- The snake dispatched its prey quickly and efficiently. tiles. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History 51: 85–166. Only about three minutes passed from my initial observa- Rivero, J.A. 1998. Los Anfibios y Reptiles de Puerto Rico. Secunda Edición Revisada. tion to the beginning of ingestion. The snake probably had The Amphibians and Reptiles of Puerto Rico. Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. captured the lizard shortly before I first noticed the pair. Rodríguez-Robles, J.A. 1992. Notes on the feeding behavior of the Puerto Rican Racer, However, the fact that the lizard suddenly stopped struggling Alsophis portoricensis (Serpentes: Colubridae). Journal of Herpetology 26: 100–102. suggested that the venom acted quickly and was lethal. My Rodríguez-Robles, J.A and R. Thomas. 1992. Venom function in the Puerto Rican conjecture is that if the snake’s venom did not directly cause Racer, Alsophis portoricensis (Serpentes: Colubridae). Copeia 1992: 62–68. Thomas, R. and J.A. Prieto-Hernandez. 1985. The use of venom by the Puerto the lizard’s paralysis, lack of oxygen due to the collapse of Rican Snake, Alsophis portoricensis, pp. 13–22. In: Decimo Simposio de Recursos lung-tissue led to its death. Naturales. Departamento de Recursos Naturales, University of Puerto Rico. Estado, Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Weldon, C.L. and S.P. Mackessy. 2009. Biological and proteomic analysis of Literature Cited venom from the Puerto Rican Racer (Alsophis portoricensis; Dipsadidae). Henderson, R.W. and R. Powell. 2009. Natural History of West Indian Reptiles and Toxicon 55: 558–569.

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