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As Prey of Psammophis Schokari from Chitwan Who Provided Snake Specimens and Orskål Locality Information

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As Prey of Psammophis Schokari from Chitwan Who Provided Snake Specimens and Orskål Locality Information __All_Short_Notes_SHORT_NOTE.qxd 12.02.2016 10:29 Seite 18 184 SHORT NOTE HERPETOZOA 28 (3/4) Wien, 30. Jänner 2016 SHORT NOTE hours of the day (20:28 h; 21:17 h; 22:30 h; blogspot.de/2013/08/rare-indian-snake-species-coral- all Jalpaiguri specimens in December, June red.html > [last accessed 19 July, 2014]. SUTRADHAR , S. & N ATH , A. (2013): An account on poorly known and July) which indicates that this species Corral Red Snake Oligodon kheriensis ACHARJI et RAy , can be active both by day and night. 1936 from Assam, India.- Russian Journal of According to the authors’ data, O. khe - Herpetology, Moskva; 20: 247-252. riensis is a globally endangered, EN B2ab KEy WORDS: Reptilia: Squamata: Colubri - (iii, iv) species based on IUCN Categories dae; Oligodon kheriensis ; ecology, conservation, and Criteria (Version 3.1.). This is caused threat, rare species; Nepal, India by the small size of the known extent of SUBMITTED: August 27, 2014 occurrence of just 48.000 km 2 and area of AUTHORS: Deb Prasad PANDEy 1) ; Bishnu 2 LAMA 2) ; Dipendra DHUNGEL 3) ; Aniket MODAK 4) & occupancy of just 28 km . At present, the Dušan JELIć (Correspond ing author < jelic.dusan@ population must be considered small and gmail.com > ) 5) severely fragmented as in total only 18 indi - 1) Department of Biological Sciences, Johann viduals were ever observed. Due to habitat Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, degradation (urbanization and agriculture) Germany, Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre and intentional killing ( PANDEy et al., un - (BiK-F), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, < [email protected] >. published), it can be inferred that there is a 2) Biodiversity Conservation Centre, Sauraha continuous population decline in terms of 44204, Chitwan, Nepal. area of occurrence, quality of habitat and 3) Dabgachhi, Dhukurpani, Damak 57217, Ward number of subpopulations. The wide range no. 06, Jhapa, Nepal. 4) c/o Late Pabitra Modak (Paltu), Raikatpara of known distribution localities and occa - (near Umagati School), P.O. & Dist., Jalpaiguri Arohan, sional reports along the southern Himalayas West Bengal, India. suggest a wide distribution of O. kheriensis . 5) Croatian Institute for Biodiversity, Croatian However, further, elaborate studies will be Herpetological Society Hyla, Lipovac I., br. 7, Zagreb, necessary to verify this snake’s detailed dis - Croatia. tributional status, ecology, habits and habi - tat. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The authors are EUSS thankful to L. N. Dhungel and K. Bhattarai from Jhapa, Rhagerhis moilensis (R , 1834), and M. K. Shreshta, B. R. Lamichhane and K. Pokharel as prey of Psammophis schokari from Chitwan who provided snake specimens and ORSKåL locality information. (F , 1775) REFERENCES: ACHARJI , M. N. & R Ay , H. C. (1936): A new species of Oligodon from the United Psammophiinae are widely distributed Provinces (India).- Records of the Indian Museum, SW Palearctic ophidians, and due to their Calcutta; 38 : 519-520. Anonymous (2012): Rare diurnal activity, commonly observed during Indian snake species discovered at Katarniaghat sanc - tuary.- The Indian Express, Noida, UP; July 16, 2012. surveys ( BONS & G ENIEZ 1996). Neverthe - DAS , A. & B ASU , D. & C ONVERSE , L. & C HOUDHURy , S. less, most species are little known in terms C. (2012): Herpetofauna of Katerniaghat Wildlife of ecolo gy and behavior in the wild. Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh, India.- Journal of Threatened Whereas, Psammophis schokari (F ORSKåL , Taxa, Coimbatore; 4 : 2553-2568. DAVID , P. & D AS , I. & V OGEL , G . (2011): On some taxonomic and nomen - 1775) is one of the most common snake clatural problems in Indian species of the genus species encountered in the Maghreb and in Oligodon FITZINGER , 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae).- the Sahara, its ophiophagous behavior is not Zootaxa, Auckland; 2799 : 1-14. GREEN , M. (2010): documented ( COTTONE & B AUER 200 9). Molecular phylogeny of the snake Genus Oligodon (Serpentes: Colubridae), with an annotated checklist Rhagerhis moilensis (R EUSS , 1834) is also a and key. M. Sc. thesis, University of Toronto, pp. 91. common snake in the western Old World PANDEy , D. P. (2012): Snakes in the vicinity of Chitwan desert ecosystems, a typical species that National Park, Nepal.- Herpetological Conservation marks the limits between Saharan and and Biology, Online resource, available at < http:// RAPE ANé www.herpconbio.org/ >; 7: 46-57. SCHLEICH , H. H. & Sahelian habitats ( T & M 2006). KäSTLE , W. (2002): Oligodon kheriensis ACHARJI and Its exact distribution in the margins of the RAy , 1936; pp. 901-902. In: SCHLEICH , H. H. & Sahara remains poorly known and maps are KäSTLE , W . (Eds.): Amphibians and reptiles of Nepal: not accurate or up-to-date ( BONS & G ENIEZ biology, systematics, field guide. Ruggell. (A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG). SNAKE LOVERS IN INDIA (2013): 1996) due to difficult access to some areas. Rare Indian snake species: Coral Red Kukri Snake. This is the first description of predation of P. WWW document available at < http://snakeloversindia. schokari upon R. moilensis . __All_Short_Notes_SHORT_NOTE.qxd 12.02.2016 10:30 Seite 19 SHORT NOTE HERPETOZOA 28 (3/4) Wien, 30. Jänner 2016 SHORT NOTE 185 Fig. 1: General view (above) and detail (left) of the ophiophagous behavior observed when Psammophis schokari (FORSKåL , 1775), devoured a young Rhagerhis moilensis (REUSS , 1834), on a succulent scrub in a Saharan ecosystem near the city of Figuig (eastern Morocco). Photo: David Oudjani. Forskål’s Sand Snake Psammophis ies on the diet of Moroccan individuals schokari , is a snake (total length up to 1,400 showed some preference for Gekkonidae mm, GENIEZ et al. 2004) with a large distri - and Lacertidae ( BONS 1967; F AHD 2001). bution range stretching from North Africa to However, cases of predation upon small ro - the Middle East, as far as India ( SINDACO et dents and birds have been reported in other al. 2013). In Africa it is found in both Medi - countries (see GRUBER 1993; S CHLEICH et al. terranean and Saharan areas ( LEVITON et al. 1996; COTTONE & B AUER 2009), and there is 1992; SCHLEICH et al. 1996; TRAPE & M ANé , an observation from Morocco upon preda - 2006). In Morocco, it occurs mainly in the tion on a passerine bird in April 2012 (C. and arid and semi-arid zones, being absent only P. BARRAUD , pers. comm.). Ophiophagy in from the Tangier Peninsula and northern this species, however, lacks concrete docu - Atlantic coast ( BONS & GENIEZ 1996; F AHD mented observations. & P LEGUEZUELOS 2001; G ENIEZ et al. 2004). The Moila Snake, Rhagerhis moilen - This snake is an opportunistic feeder but sis is a diurnal snake (total length up to preys mainly upon lizards ( FLOWER 1933; 1,300 mm, GENIEZ et al. 2004) occurring in BONS 1967; G RUBER 1989; S CHLEICH et al. Saharan habitats from the Atlantic coast 1996; COTTONE & B AUER 2009). Two stud - (Morocco, Mauritania) to the Middle East __All_Short_Notes_SHORT_NOTE.qxd 12.02.2016 10:30 Seite 20 186 SHORT NOTE HERPETOZOA 28 (3/4) Wien, 30. Jänner 2016 SHORT NOTE 14 minutes (14:24 - 14:38 h local time). Psammophis schokari is regularly seen and usually tries to escape quickly from human presence, but in this particular case, did not flee or regurgitate the prey. Once the prey was totally swallowed, the snake escaped quickly. Completion of the predatory action was apparently given priority by the snake over the potential threat coming from the human observers. Even if P. schokari is known to be mainly saurophagous, it is not surprising to observe an instance of ophiophagy. Both snakes are diurnal and can be syntopic. The fact that R. moilensis was a young snake Fig. 2: General view of the xeric habitat may explain the success of the attack. It is near the city of Figuig (eastern Morocco) highly unlikely that P. schokari exhibited a where the predation event took place. scavenger behavior in that case. In this Photo: David Oudjani. area, animal corpses are infested by ants in the first ten minutes after death, and that was not the case on the fresh body observed deserts of Iran (B öHME & D E PURy 2011). in the predator’s mouth. Psammophis scho - In Morocco, it is reportedly absent from the kari remains one of the species whose Mediterranean and Sahelian habitats ( GENI- dietary habits are poorly known. Particular EZ et al. 2004) and the large erg formations attention should be paid to learn more about (TRAPE & M ANé 2006). According to the its ecology in general and trophic regime in repartition mapped in BONS & G ENIEZ particular. (1996) there are no records along the north - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors thank ern margin of the Sahara in the area between A. Retnani (Casablanca) for financial support of the Boudenib and Figuig in southeastern Mo - expedition that lead to this observation and M. Ribi rocco. However, recently some individuals (Chef de la Division des Parcs et Réserves Naturelles, Maroc) and Mr. A. El Hafi (Haut-Commissaire aux were found between Belibilia and Men goub Eaux et Forêts et à la Lutte Contre la Désertification, (BARATA et al. 2011). The distribution map Maroc) for prospection permits. Further thanks go to in SINDACO et al. (2013) correctly includes Ph. Geniez (E.P.H.E., Montpellier), G. Martinez del the Figuig area in the easternmost part of Marmol Marin (Granada) and A. Cottone (Villanova Morocco where R. moilensis was reported University, Pennsylvania) for sharing precious infor - mation on Psammophiinae snakes diet and repartition. in August 2013 near the road north of Figuig The first author is also thankful to “Association du (G. Martinez del Marmol Marin, pers. Refuge des Tortues” through J. Maran (Bessières, comm.). France) for continual support in field prospections. On August 17, 2010, the authors ob - REFERENCES: BARATA , M. & P ERERA , A. & served an unsexed adult specimen of P. HARRIS , D.
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