Death-Feigning and Defensive Behavior in Two

WWW.IRCF.ORG TABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES &IRCF AMPHIBIANS REPTILES • VOL &15, AMPHIBIANS NO 4 • DEC 2008 • 189 27(2):237–238 • AUG 2020

IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURE ARTICLES Death-feigning. Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) inand Wisconsin: Defensive Behavior in On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 Two. TheSnakes Shared History of Treeboas (Corallusof grenadensis the) and HumansAndaman on Grenada: and Nicobar A Hypothetical Excursion ...... Robert W. Henderson 198 RESEARCH ARTICLESArchipelago of India . 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 S.R. Chandramouli ...... Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry–605014, India ([email protected]) CONSERVATION ALERT . World’s Mammals in Crisis ...... 220 . More Than Mammals ...... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ...... 225 efensive behaviors used by animals to avoid predation ing actively at about 2100 h on the trunk of a tree at a height Dinclude flight,HUSBANDRY crypsis, and death-feigning (thanato- of about 2 m above the ground at Changua (08.0157°N, sis), with the latter known. Captive toCare occur of the Central in someNetted Dragon species ...... of fishes 93.4995°E; 188.4 m asl). Shannon While Plummer being 226 photographed (Fig. (e.g., Mckaye 1981;PROFILE Howe 1991), birds (e.g., Sargent and 1), the snake coiled its body tightly and hid its head within Eberhardt 1975), mammals. Kraig Adler: (e.g., A Lifetime Francq Promoting 1969), Herpetology and ...... many the coils, remaining motionless Michael L. Treglia for 234about 2 min. It subse- reptiles (summarisedCOMMENTARY in Patel et al. 2016 and Deshmukh et quently curled its tail above its body, presumably in an effort al. 2020). Herein I describe. The Turtles two Have Beeninstances Watching Mein ...... two species of to distract a putative predator. Eric Gangloff Such 238tail-curling behavior has snakes from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. been reported by David et al. (2012) and Seshadri (2014) in BOOK REVIEW Although Vijayakumar. Threatened and Amphibians David of (2006)the World editedrecorded by S.N. newStuart, M. Hoffmann,several J.S.congeners Chanson, N.A. (O. Cox, albocinctus , O. cyclurus, O. nago, and records of the Nicobar KukriR. Berridge, Snake P. Ramani, (Oligodon and B.E. Young woodmasoni ...... ) O. octolineatus). The snake Robertthen Powell twisted 243 its body coils, expos- from islands in the Nicobar Archipelago, little is known about ing its venter, and feigned death. This the first report of such  CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ...... 245 the behavior and natural NATURAL history HISTORY of this RESEARCH species. REPORTS During: Summariesher- of Publishedbehavior Reports by on Oligodon Natural History woodmasoni ...... and 247 is also the first record petological surveys onNEWBRIEFS Camorta, ...... which is in the central group of the species from...... Camorta. 248 of the Nicobar Archipelago, EDITORIAL I observed INFORMATION an adult ...... female mov- When approached, an...... adult female 251 Tytler’s Keelback  FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ...... 252 (Fowlea tytleri) (SVL ~1,000 mm) that had been rescued from the hostel in Port Blair, South Andaman (11.6339°N, 92.7424°E; 75 m asl) inverted its body, exposed its venter, Front Cover. Shannon Plummer. and feignedBack Cover. death Michael (Fig.Kern 2). After being left undisturbed for Totat et velleseque audant mo oneTotat minute, et velleseque it audantslowly mo raised its head, presumably checking estibus inveliquo velique rerchil estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus,if the threat quos accullabo. had passed, Ilibus before assuming a natural position. aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum Vogelaut dolor and apicto Han-Yuen invere pe dolum (2010) described death-feigning behav- fugiatis maionsequat eumque ior fugiatisin a congener, maionsequat eumque the Checkered Keelback (Fowlea piscator). moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as accullabo. Literature Cited David, P., T.Q., Nguyen, T.T. Nguyen, K. Jiang, T. Chen, A. Teynié, and T. Ziegler. 2012. A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from northern Vietnam, southern China and central Laos. Zootaxa, 3498: 45–62. Deshmukh, R.V., S.A. Deshmukh, S.A. Badhekar, U.M. Udapure, and S.K. Hattimare. 2020. Death-feigning behavior in the Common Sand Boa, Eryx conicus (Schneider 1801) (Erycidae), and the Common Wolfsnake, Lycodon aulicus (Linnaeus 1758) (Colubridae). Reptiles & Amphibians 27: 65–67. Francq, E.N. 1969. Behavioral aspects of feigned death in the opossum Didelphis marsupialis. American Midland Naturalist 81: 556–558. Howe, J.C. 1991. Field observations of death feigning in the Convict Tang, Acanthurus triostegus (Linnaeus), with comments on the nocturnal color pat- tern in juvenile specimens. Journal of Aquariculture & Aquatic Sciences 6: 13–15. Fig. 1. Defensive behaviors of a Nicobar Kukri Snake (Oligodon wood- McKaye, K.R. 1981. Field observation on death feigning: a unique hunting masoni): tail-curling (A), head-hiding (B), and death-feigning (C). behavior by the predatory cichlid, Haplochromis livingstoni, of Lake Malawi. Photographs by S.R. Chandramouli. Environmental Biology of Fishes 6: 361–365.

Fig. 2. Death-feigning behavior in Tytler’s Keelback (Fowlea tytleri) (A) and checking for threats after a period of one minute (B). Photographs by S.R. Chandramouli.

Patel, H., V. Naik and S.K. Tank. 2016. Death-feigning behavior in two species Colubridae). Herpetology Notes 7: 447–450. of Lygosoma (Squamata, Scincidae) from India. Phyllomedusa 15: 191–194. Vijayakumar, S.P. and P. David. 2006. Taxonomy, natural history, and distribution Sargeant, A.B. and L.E. Eberhardt. 1975. Death feigning by ducks in response to pre- of the snakes of the Nicobar Islands (India), based on new materials and with dation by Red Foxes (Vulpes fulva). American Midland Naturalist 94: 108–119. an emphasis on endemic species. Russian Journal of Herpetology 13: 11–40. Seshadri, K.S. 2014. Display behaviour in response to a perceived threat by Indian Vogel, G. and H.K. Han-Yuen. 2010. Death feigning behavior in three colubrid short-headed kukri snake Oligodon brevicaudus (Günther, 1862) (Squamata: species of tropical Asia. Russian Journal of Herpetology 17: 15–21.

238