WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSIRCF REPTILES • VOL15, &NO AMPHIBIANS 4 • DEC 2008 189 • 27(1):65–67 • APR 2020

IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURE ARTICLES Death-feigning. Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer Behavior sayi) in Wisconsin: in the Common Sand On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 Boa, Eryx. The Shared Historyconicus of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis (Schneider) and Humans on Grenada: 1801) (Erycidae), A Hypothetical Excursion ...... Robert W. Henderson 198 and theRESEARCH Common ARTICLES Wolfsnake, Lycodon aulicus . 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 ...... (LinnaeusBrian J. Camposano, 1758) Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin (Colubridae) M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212

Rahul V. DeshmukhCONSERVATION1, Sagar A. ALERTDeshmukh2, Swapnil A. Badhekar3, Umesh M. Udapure4, and Sheshrao K. Hattimare5 . World’s Mammals in Crisis ...... 220 1 . MoreH.N. Than 26, Mammals Teacher ...... Colony, Kalmeshwar, Nagpur, Maharashtra-441501, India (rahul30.snake@gmail.com)...... 223 . The2Behind “Dow JonesPotdar Index” Nursing of Biodiversity Home, ...... Kalmeshwar, Nagpur, Maharashtra-441501, India ([email protected])...... 225 3Tiwaskar Wadi near Boudha Vihar, Hingana Raipur, Nagpur, Maharashtra-441110, India ([email protected]) 4NearHUSBANDRY Hanuman Temple, Tidaka Road, Sadak Arjuni District, Gondia, Maharashtra-441807, India ([email protected]) . Captive5At Wadegaon,Care of the Central P.O. Netted Sadak, Dragon Arjuni, ...... Gondia, Maharashtra-441807, India ([email protected] Shannon Plummer )226

PROFILE . Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ...... Michael L. Treglia 234

eath-feigningCOMMENTARY or thanotosis is a form of catalepsy or Wolfsnake (Lycodon aulicus) (Vogel and Han-Yuem 2010; Dtonic immobility.. The TurtlesIn most Have Been cases, Watching animals Me ...... exhibiting Mirza et al. 2011); Large-eyed Eric Gangloff False 238 Cobra (Pseudoxenodon this behavior “play dead” by maintaining a rigid posture macrops) (Bhosale and Thite 2013); Burmese Python (Python BOOK REVIEW or by simulating fully. Threatenedrelaxed Amphibians muscles of inthe Worldresponse edited by to S.N. exter Stuart,- M. Hoffmann,bivittatus J.S. Chanson,) (Bhattarai N.A. Cox, et al. 2017), and Yellow-collared nal stimuli, including predationR. Berridge, P. Ramani,attempts and B.E. (e.g., Young ...... Gregory et Wolfsnake (Lycodon flavicollis Robert) Powell(Muliya 243 et al. 2018). Herein al. 2007; Bhattarai et al. 2017). In snakes, thanotosis often we describe the first record of death-feigning in the Common includes immobility CONSERVATIONand mouth gaping, RESEARCH frequently REPORTS: with Summaries the of PublishedSand Conservation Boa (Eryx Research conicus Reports ) ...... and a second 245 record of this behavior  NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ...... 247 tongue everted and sometimesNEWBRIEFS ...... involving voluntary supina- in the Common...... Wolfsnake (Lycodon 248 aulicus). tion or lack of muscle EDITORIAL tone. This INFORMATION behavior ...... has been rarely Common Sand Boas (...... Eryx conicus 251 ) are stout-bodied,  FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ...... 252 documented in Asian snakes (Mirza et al. 2011) and we are medium-sized snakes with strongly keeled scales (Das 2002). aware of only a few records of death-feigning in snakes from The species is abundant in arid localities (Das 2002) and India: Checkered Keelback (Fowlea piscator), Copper-headed occurs throughout the Indian Subcontinent except for the

Trinket Snake (Coelognathus radiatusFront ),Cover. and Shannon the CommonPlummer. AndamanBack Cover. and Michael Nicobar Kern Islands (Whitaker and Captain 2004). 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 Common Sand Boa (Eryx conicus) feigning death in response to capture. Photograph by Umesh M. Udapure.

Copyright © 2020. Rahul V. Deshmukh. All rights reserved. 65 IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324 DESHMUKH ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 27(1):65–67 • APR 2020

Fig. 2. A Common Wolfsnake (Lycodon aulicus) feigning death in response to capture. Photograph by Rahul V. Deshmukh.

Although mostly crespuscular or nocturnal (Das 2002), these and feed on geckos, skinks, rodents, and bats (Whitaker and snakes are known to hunt by day (Whitaker and Captain Captain 2004; Tank and Sharma 2016). 2004). They are strong burrowers in loose sand or silty soil On 8 October 2018, RD and Manoj Uikey res- (Sharma 2007) and generally constrict prey, which includes cued an adult male near the Sai Temple, Brahmani, small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and even large Kalmeshwar, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India (21°24'08.81"N, insects (Smith 1943; Das 2002; Sharma 2007; Whitaker and 78°90'86.93"E). When placed in a plastic container, the Captain 2004). Typical foraging behavior is for an individual snake stopped moving and turned upside-down. We thought to hide itself in the substrate or surface litter and ambush any it was dead and removed it from the container, at which time prey that comes within striking range (Whitaker and Captain it inverted its entire body (Fig. 2) and remained in this posi- 2004). tion for 18 min. We subsequently released the snake in appro- On 21 November 2018, SH rescued an unsexed sub- priate habitat. adult from Sadak Arjuni, Gondia, Maharashtra, India The death feigning response might not always occur (21°05'27.7"N, 80o09'14.7"E), and placed the snake in a plas- with the same intensity. For example, neither of our snakes tic container. After about 10 min, the snake stopped moving. engaged in mouth-gaping, nor did the Common Wolfsnake When we opened the container to confirm if the snake was described by Mirza et al. (2011). Also, this behavior might dead or alive, it remained motionless except for breathing. We be correlated with external environmental factors like tem- removed it from the container, at which time it inverted half perature or humidity (Gerald 2008; Bhosale and Thite 2013). of its body (Fig. 1), defecated, and remained in this position That we collected both of these nocturnal snakes during the for 12–15 min. We subsequently released the snake in appro- day might be noteworthy. However, both initially tried to priate habitat. escape, the Common Wolfsnake bit the rescuer, and both Common Wolfsnakes (Lycodon aulicus) occur through- feigned death as last resort. out India (including Lakshadweep but not the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Whitaker and Captain 2004). These are Acknowledgements among the most frequently encountered snakes on the Indian We are very grateful to Subham Katgube, Shubham plains and often occur near and even in human habitations Nandeshwar, Kunal Bansod, Swapnil Raut, and Raj (Daniel 2002). Common Wolfsnakes are strictly nocturnal Khobragade.

66 DESHMUKH ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 27(1):65–67 • APR 2020

Literature Cited Mirza, Z.A., V.V. Vaze, and R.V. Sanap. 2011. Death feigning behaviour in two species of the genus Lycodon of Asia (Squamata: Colubridae). Herpetology Bhattarai, S., C.P. Pokheral, and B.R. Lamichhane. 2017. Death feigning behavior Notes 4: 295–297. in the Burmese Python Python bivittatus Kuhl, 1820 in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Russian Journal of Herpetology 24: 323–326. Muliya, S.K., A. Nath, and A. Das. 2018. First report of death feigning behavior in the yellow collared wolf snake (Lycodon flavicolis). The Herpetological Bulletin Bhosale, H.S. and V. Thite. 2013. Death feigning behavior in Large-eyed False 143: 41–42. Cobra Pseudoxenodon macrops (Blyth, 1854) (Squamata: Colubridae). Russian Journal of Herpetology 20: 190–192. Sharma, R.C. 2007. The Fauna of India and the Adjacent Countries. Reptilia Volume- III (Serpentes). Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. Daniel, J.C. 2002. The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford University Press, Bombay, India. Smith, M.A. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, including the . Das, I. 2002. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of India. New Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia Vol. III.– Holland Publishers Ltd., London, UK. Serpentes. Taylor and Francis, Ltd., London, UK. Gerald, G.W. 2008. Feign versus flight: influences of temperature, body size and Tank, C. and V. Sharma. 2016. Lycodon aulicus (Common Wolf Snake). Diet. locomotor abilities on death feigning in neonate snakes. Animal Behaviour Herpetological Review 47: 480. 75: 647–654. Vogel, G. and H.K. Han-Yuem. 2010. Death feigning behavior in three colubrid Gregory, P.T., L.A. Isaac, and R.A. Griffiths. 2007. Death-feigning by grass snakes species of tropical Asia. Russian Journal of Herpetology 17: 15–21. (Natrix natrix) in response to handling by human “predators.” Journal of Whitaker, R. and A. Captain. 2004. Snakes of India: The Field Guide. Draco Books, Comparative Psychology 121: 123–129. Chennai, India.

67