Herpetology Notes, volume 11: 829-830 (2018) (published online on 28 September 2018)

Predation attempt of undulatus (Serpentes, Dipsadidae) on cuvieri (Amphibia, )

André Teles1, Arthur de Sena2,3,*, and Maurivan Vaz Ribeiro1,4

Xenopholis Peters, 1869 comprises small to medium In 20 December 2017, we encountered one individual sized, terrestrial-fossorial from eastern South of in the municipality of Guapó America (Hoge and Federsoni, 1975; Loebmann, 2009; (-16.8323°S, -49.5382°W), state of Goiás, , on Ribeiro et al., 2011). Three of Xenopholis are top of a rock (30cm above the ground), at 10:30 pm, in currently recognized (Uetz, 2018): Xenopholis undulatus a flooded area at the border of a gallery forest (Figure (Jensen, 1900), (Wucherer, 1861) 1). The individual was preying upon an individual of and Xenopholis werdingorum Jansen, Álvarez and Physalaemus cuvieri, swallowing the latter by its caudal Köhler, 2009. portion and subjugating it with envenomation (Figure Xenopholis undulatus (Jensen, 1900) is a small 2). When the noticed our presence, it immediately opisthoglyphous snake, distributed from the central released the prey and moved to the rocks on the floor; plateau of Brazil to Paraguay. This nocturnal snake has the returned, still alive, to the water. terrestrial-fossorial habits and occurs in gallery forests of Xenopholis undulatus is a common predator of the Cerrado in Central Brazil (França and Braz, 2013). , with a single observation of this species Its diet is composed of amphibians and lizards (Cunha preying upon amphibians in situ (Kokobum and Maciel, and Nascimento, 1993; França et al., 2008, Costa et al., 2010). Other events of predation were ex situ records, 2013), and its reproduction is oviparous (Costa et al., on specimens of Physalaemus cuvieri, and the lizard 2013). Hemidactylus mabouia (Costa et al., 2013). Physalaemus cuvieri (Fitzinger, 1826) is widely Besides being a rare field observation, we are not distributed in the east-central region of , aware of reports of X. undulatus preying upon P. from northeastern Brazil to eastern Paraguay and cuvieri in situ, and the documented predation attempt northern Argentina (Mijares et al., 2010). Its diet agrees with the assessment of Costa et al. (2013) that is composed of invertebrates (Pinto, 2011), mainly Isoptera and Formicidae (Araújo et al., 2009).

1 Laboratório de Herpetologia e Comportamento , Universidade Federal de Goiás. CEP: 74690-900, Goiânia/ GO, Brasil. 2 Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de Brasília. CEP 70910-900, Brasília/DF, Brasil. 3 Departamento de Biologia, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso. CEP 78690-000, Nova Xavantina/MT, Brazil. 4 Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade Animal, Universidade Federal de Goiás. CEP: 74690-900, Goiânia /GO, Brasil. Figure 1. The flooded area near the gallery forest. Photo: * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] André Teles. 830 André Teles et al.

França, F.G.R. and Braz, V.S. (2013): Diversity, activity patterns, and use of the snake fauna of Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Central Brazil. Biota Neotropica 13: 75−85. Hoge, A.R. and Federsoni, P.A. (1975): Notes on Xenopholis Peters and Paraoyxrophus Schenkel (Serpentes: ). Memórias do Instituto Butantan [1974] 38: 137−146. Kokobum, M.N.C. and Maciel, N.M. (2010): Scinax fuscovarius (NCN). Predation. Herpetological Review 41: 480−481. Loebmann, D. (2009): Xenopholis undulatus: Geographic Distribution. Herpetological Review 40: 117. Mijares, A., Rodrigues M.T. and Baldo, D. (2010): Physalaemus cuvieri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T57 250A11609155. Accessed on 08 January 2018. Uetz, P., Freed, P. and Hosek, J. (eds): The Database. Available at: http://www.reptile-database.org. Accessed on 28 March 2018. Pinto, T. M. (2011): Ecologia alimentar de uma taxocenose de anuros terrestres no Brasil Central. 2011. Dissertação (Mestrado em Biologia Animal) - Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, 2011. Ribeiro, S.C., Guarnieri, M. (2011): Xenopholis undulatus (Jensens s Ground snake): Geographic Distribution. Herpetological Review 42: 116-116.

Figure 2. Xenopholis undulatus preying upon a Physalaemus cuvieri in Guapó, Goiás, Brazil. Photo: André Teles.

X. undulatus is a common predator of P. cuvieri. This record demonstrate that this species uses different kinds of habitat, inhabiting gallery forest and also forages along forest borders and open areas.

Acknowledgments. We thanks Leandro Malta Borges for the pre-peer review of this manuscript and Omar Entiauspe Neto, who kindly provided a grammar review.

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