WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF & AMPHIBIANSIRCF REPTILES • VOL 15,& NAMPHIBIANSO 4 • DEC 2008 •189 26(3):221–223 • JAN 2020

IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURE ARTICLES Notes .onChasing BullsnakesParturition (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: of an Indian Vine , On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 . AhaetullaThe Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus nasuta grenadensis) and Humans (Lacépèdeon Grenada: 1789) A Hypothetical Excursion ...... Robert W. Henderson 198 (:RESEARCH ARTICLES Ahaetuliidae) in Captivity . The Texas Horned in Central and Western Texas ...... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris)Khan in Florida Ashaharraza 1 and Shubham Sayanke2 ...... Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 1Indian Herpetological Society, Pune- 411009, , ([email protected]) CONSERVATION2New ALERT plots of Uttamsara, Tq-Bhatkuli, Amravati- 444701, Maharashtra, India . World’s Mammals in Crisis ...... 220 . More Than Mammals ...... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ...... 225

he Indian VineHUSBANDRY Snake ( nasuta) is widely distrib- 23 young are born between March and December (Whitaker Tuted throughout .peninsularCaptive Care of India,the Central including Netted Dragon some ...... parts of and Captain 2008) with Shannon total Plummer lengths 226 of neonates measuring Gujarat (Vyas 2013)PROFILE and Rajasthan (Sharma 1995) but is absent 200–440 mm (Das 2012). from the extreme northwestern. Kraig Adler: A partsLifetime ofPromoting the country Herpetology and ...... from An adult Indian Vine Michael Snake L. Treglia (Fig.234 1) was collected by the Gangetic Basin (WhitakerCOMMENTARY and Captain 2008). Although the the second author during a rescue operation at 0930 h on 28 senior author found this. The Turtles Have to Beenbe relativelyWatching Me common...... in the May 2014 from the hedge Ericof Gangloffthe Social 238 Forestry Plantation dense forests of Amravati, it was considered to be uncommon or at Uttamsara (20°51'41.5"N 77°39'37.6"E), Bhatkuli, rare in the district byBOOK Nande REVIEW and Deshmukh (2007). Amravati District. After observing the distended posterior . Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, This species bears liveR. Berridge,young P. and Ramani, the and gestation B.E. Young ...... period can body (Fig. 2), the snake was Robert referred Powell 243 to the senior author, be as long as 172 days (Daniel 2002). However, Anil Khaire who concluded that it was a gravid female. Total length was (pers. comm.) observed CONSERVATION a period of RESEARCHonly 51 days. REPORTS: As many Summaries as of Published1,003 Conservation mm, snout-vent Research Reports length...... (SVL) 245640 mm, and tail length  NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ...... 247  NEWBRIEFS ...... 248  EDITORIAL INFORMATION ...... 251  FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ...... 252

Front Cover. Shannon Plummer. Back Cover. Michael Kern Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as accullabo.

Fig. 1. A gravid female Indian Vine Snake (). Photograph by Khan Ashaharraza.

Copyright © 2020. Khan Ashaharraza. All rights reserved. 221 IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324 ASHAHARRAZA AND SAYANKE IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(3):221–223 • JAN 2020

(TL) 390 mm. The distended girth indicated that the female was ready to deliver. It was housed in a glass box (90 × 30 × 45 cm) and provided with twigs for perching and a bowl of water. The substrate was oven-dried to avoid any contamina- tion and temperature was maintained at a constant 30.0°C. The snake initially accepted two Graceful Leaf-toed Geckos (Hemidactylus gracilis) and an Indian Burrowing (Sphaerotheca cf. breviceps) but soon began to refuse offered prey items and become noticeably less active. Parturition began at 2315 h on 16 August, 77 days after the female was captured, and by 0545 h on 17 August four neonates (Fig. 3), all appar- ently healthy, had been delivered. Total lengths of the neonates ranged from 240 to 285 mm, with SVL averaging 181.3 mm (170–190 mm) and TL 82.5 mm (70–95 mm). The were photographed and released into natural habitat in the presence of Maharashtra Forest Department authorities. By examining museum specimens and snakes in the field, we have noticed that individuals of widely distributed Indian snakes in central India are smaller and appear to attain sexual maturity sooner than individuals of the same species from other parts of the country. As far as we know, this is the first description of parturition in this species from central India; Fig. 2. Noticeable bulging in the posterior body of a gravid female Indian extensive surveys and considerably more data will be required Vine Snake (Ahaetulla nasuta). Photograph by Khan Ashaharraza. to determine if our observations hold true for Ahaetulla nasuta.

Fig. 3. Hatching Indian Vine Snakes (Ahaetulla nasuta). Photograph by Khan Ashaharraza. 222 ASHAHARRAZA AND SAYANKE IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(3):221–223 • JAN 2020

Acknowledgments Literature Cited Ninu Somraj (former Divisional Forest Officer, Amravati) Daniel, J.C. 2002. The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Oxford University and Pradeep Lakde (former Range Forest Officer, Wadali Press, Oxford, UK. Range) provided guidance and permission to conduct this Nande, R. and S. Deshmukh. 2007. Snakes of Amravati District including Melghat, Maharashtra with important records of the Indian Egg-Eater, Montane study. Anil Khaire reviewed an earlier version of this manu- Trinket Snake and Indian Smooth Snake. Zoos’ Print Journal 22: 2920–2924. script. Manoj Bind helped with photographs. KA also thanks Sharma, S.K. 1995. Presence of Common Green Whip Snake Ahaetulla nasutus at Peter Uetz (Center for the Study of Biological Complexity, “Phulwari Ki Nal” Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan. Journal of the Bombay Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virgina, Natural History Society 92: 127. Vyas, R. 2013. Snake diversity and voluntary rescue practice in the cities of Gujarat USA) for help with the literature. SS is thankful to State, India: An evaluation. Rap 15: 27–39. Gajendrasingh Pachlore (Vinayak Vidya Mandir). Ahsan Whitaker, R. and A. Captain. 2008. Snakes of India. The Field Guide. Draco Books, Sheikh and Mukesh Malave helped in many ways. Chennai, India.

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