The Cuban Boa, Chilabothrus Angulifer
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WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSIRCF REPTILES • VOL15, N &O 4AMPHIBIANS • DEC 2008 189 • 22(1):8–15 • MAR 2015 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE ARTICLES At the. Chasing Lower Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer Size sayi) in Wisconsin: Limit of Snakes Preying On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 . The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: on BatsA Hypothetical in Excursionthe ............................................................................................................................ West Indies: The RobertCuban W. Henderson 198 Boa, RESEARCHChilabothrus ARTICLES angulifer (Boidae) . 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 1 2 3 .............................................Tomás M. BrianRodríguez-Cabrera J. Camposano, Kenneth L., Krysko,Javier Kevin Torres M. Enge,, andEllen M.Ruben Donlan, Marreroand Michael Granatosky 212 1Jardín Botánico de Cienfuegos, Cienfuegos, CP 59290, Cuba ([email protected]) CONSERVATION ALERT 2Departamento de Biología Animal y Humana, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de la Habana, La Habana, CP 10400, Cuba ([email protected]) . 3 DivisiónWorld’s de Zoología Mammals dein CrisisVertebrados, ............................................................................................................................................................. Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, La Habana, CP 10800, Cuba ([email protected]) 220 . More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225 HUSBANDRY . Abstract.—Bat predationCaptive Care ofby the snakes Central Netted has Dragon been ....................................................................................................... repeatedly documented in the literature, Shannon particularly Plummer 226 for boids and colu- broids. In the PROFILEWest Indies, species of the genus Chilabothrus (Boidae) are the most frequently reported bat predators. However, bats are. Kraig difficult Adler: A Lifetime to capture, Promoting Herpetologyand reports ................................................................................................ of bat-predating snakes smaller than Michael 1 L. mTreglia in total234 length are very scarce. Herein COMMENTARYwe report bat predation in very young Cuban Boas (C. angulifer), the smallest of which represents the minimum size record. The Turtles for boidHave Been snakes Watching preying Me ........................................................................................................................ on bats anywhere in the Neotropics. In contrast Eric Gangloff to most238 boids, the large size of neonatalBOOK Cuban REVIEW Boas allows the consumption of endotherms as well as ectotherms soon after birth, including bats captured on .theThreatened wing Amphibians while exiting of the World or editedentering by S.N. caves. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243 “ or many species CONSERVATION of medium-sized RESEARCH to large REPORTS: snakes, Summaries bat of Published Conservation The endemic Research ReportsCuban ................................. Boa, Chilabothrus 245 angulifer (Bibron Fcolonies represent NATURAL a potential HISTORY concentration RESEARCH REPORTS of food: Summaries to of Published1840), Reports is the on onlyNatural representativeHistory ................................. of the 247 family Boidae in Cuba be exploited” (Esbérard NEWBRIEFS and Vrcibradic ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 2007). This can lead and is the largest snake on the Archipelago 248 (Henderson and EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 some individuals to FOCUS“specialize” ON CONSERVATION (in this case: A more Project Youproperly Can Support ...............................................................................................Powell 2009). It is widespread across 252 the main island, Isla “habituate”) on bat hunting if large bat populations inhabit de la Juventud, and some adjacent keys, ranging in elevation their home ranges (Kowalski 1995). Two basic modes of pre- from sea level to 1,214 m (e.g., Henderson and Arias 2001; dation on bats are hunting active animals outside or exiting Rodríguez et al. 2010; Estrada 2012; Rodríguez et al. 2013). refuges and preying on animals (activeFront orCover. inactive) Shannon Plummer.inside ref- ThisBack species Cover. occursMichael Kern in a great variety of habitats, but is par- Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo uges (Esbérard and Vrcibradic 2007).estibus When inveliquo flying, velique rerchil bats are ticularlyestibus inveliquo abundant velique rerchil in karstic situations (e.g., Schwartz and fast-moving, and capturing them requireserspienimus, skill, quos accullabo.strength, Ilibus and erspienimus,Henderson quos accullabo.1991; IlibusTolson and Henderson 1993; Henderson possibly a high expenditure of energy,aut dolor probably apicto invere accounting pe dolum andaut dolor Powell apicto invere2009). pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque fugiatis maionsequat eumque for most records of Neotropical snakesmoditia striking erere nonsedis at flyingma sectiatur bats moditia Suggestions erere nonsedis ma of sectia bat- predation by Cuban Boas abound pertaining to species in the family maBoidae derrovitae (see voluptam, Esbérard as quos and sincetur ma thederrovitae beginning voluptam, as of the 20th Century (Miller 1904; accullabo. Vrcibradic 2007 for a review). The prehensile tail and mus- Barbour and Ramsden 1919; Barbour 1945; Schwartz cular strength of boids (constricting snakes) allow them to and Ogren 1956; Silva and Koopman 1964; Silva 1979; wait in ambush for bats while hanging from branches, vines, Berovides and Carbonell 1998), but were confirmed on only roots or limestone outcrops at the entrances or ceilings of a few occasions (Hardy 1957; Sheplan and Schwartz 1974; caves (e.g., Rodríguez-Durán 1996; Puente-Rolón and Bird- Mancina 2011), despite the fact that it is a relatively common Picó 2004; Esbérard and Vrcibradic 2007). Furthermore, phenomenon in caves throughout Cuba (T.M. Rodríguez- this muscular strength must provide an additional advantage Cabrera, pers. obs.). This behavior also has been reported when absorbing the impact and stopping the inertia of fly- in at least three other West Indian boid snakes: The Puerto ing bats. Consistent with this last assumption, despite the Rican Boa, C. inornatus (e.g., Rodríguez and Reagan 1984; fact that colubroids constitute the second most frequently Rodríguez-Durán 1996; Wiley 2003; Puente-Rolón and reported Neotropical snake group preying on bats (Esbérard Bird-Picó 2004; Puente-Rolón 2012), the Jamaican Boa, and Vrcibradic 2007), predation on flying bats by colubroids C. subflavus (Prior and Gibson 1997; Koenig and Schwartz appears to be occasional (e.g., Herreid 1961; Hammer and 2003; Dávalos and Eriksson 2004), and the St. Lucia Boa, Arlettaz 1998). Boa orophias (Arendt and Anthony 1986). However, only C. Copyright © 2015. Tomás M. Rodríguez-Cabrera. All rights reserved. 8 RODRÍGUEZ-CABRERA ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 22(1):8–15 • MAR 2015 inornatus has been widely documented as commonly exploit- sis) and as a nocturnal refugium by Waterhouse’s Leaf-nosed ing bats as a trophic resource in caves. Additionally, bat pre- Bats (Macrotus waterhousei) (T.M. Rodríguez-Cabrera, pers. dation has been suggested for the Grenada Boa, Corallus gre- obs.). Although large concentrations of bats occur in both nadensis (R.W. Henderson in Henderson and Powell 2009) caves, the geomorphology and climatic parameters do not and the Hispaniolan Boa (Chilabothrus striatus) has been fulfill the criteria for “hot caves” (see Silva 1977, 1979; Cruz observed foraging for bats at cave openings (J.A. Ottenwalder 1992). Both caves are surrounded by semideciduous forest in Henderson and Powell 2009), but feeding events have not interspersed with secondary vegetation. been confirmed. We weighed all captured snakes to the nearest 5 g with Bat predation has not been reported for West Indian a Pesola® spring scale (Medio-Line 600 g), measured snout- boids smaller than 900 mm SVL. Herein, we report very small vent length (SVL), tail length (TL), and mid-body circumfer- Cuban Boas directly preying or foraging for bats inside caves. ence (MBC) to the nearest 1 mm using a cord and a flexible One of them represents the minimum size record for any boid measuring tape, and head length with a Stainless Steel Vernier snake known to prey on bats in the