HTTPS://JOURNALS.KU.EDU/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSREPTILES • VOL15, & N AMPHIBIANSO 4 • DEC 2008 •189 28(1):34–36 • APR 2021

IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NotesFEATURE ARTICLES on Behavior in Green Keelbacks, . Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: RhabdophisOn the Road to Understanding the Ecologyplumbicolor and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant(Cantor Serpent ...... Joshua 1839) M. Kapfer 190 . The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A (Reptilia:Hypothetical Excursion ...... Squamata: Natricidae)Robert W. Henderson 198 RESEARCH ARTICLES Rahul. The V.Texas Deshmukh Horned Lizard1, inSagar Central A. and Deshmukh Western Texas2 ...... , Swapnil A. Emily Badhekar Henry, Jason3, Brewer,Shubham Krista Mougey,Katgube and 4,Gad Atul Perry Bhelkar 204 5 . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida 1 H. N. 26, ...... Teacher Colony, Kalmeshwar,Brian J. Camposano,Nagpur, Maharashtra-441501, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin India M. Enge, (rahul30.snake@gmail.com Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael [corresponding Granatosky 212 author]) 2Behind Potdar Nursing Home, Kalmeshwar, Nagpur, Maharashtra-441501, India ([email protected]) CONSERVATION3Tiwaskarwadi, ALERT Raipur, Hingana, Nagpur, Maharashtra-441110, India ([email protected]) 4 . World’sSaoner Mammals Ring road, in Crisis Kalmeshwar-Brahmani, ...... Nagpur, Maharashtra-441501, India ([email protected])...... 220 5 .H.N.More 19,Than Ward Mammals No. 14, ...... Hudko Colony, Kalmeshwar, Nagpur, Maharashtra-441501, India ...... ([email protected]) 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ...... 225

HUSBANDRY reen Keelbacks. Captive (Rhabdophis Care of the Central plumbicolor Netted Dragon), ...... also known behavior in arboreal snakes,” Shannon although Plummer 226imitating a branch or Gas Lead Keelbacks,PROFILE are distributed throughout much of vine is not limited to arboreal species (Maddock et al. 2011). India, absent only .alongKraig Adler: the Aeastern Lifetime Promoting coast, theHerpetology Ganges ...... Valley, In either case, the sudden Michael transition L. Treglia from234 a stretched pos- and the extreme northeastern parts of the nation. These ture to a bent one quickly removes a predator’s visual cue (an COMMENTARY snakes generally are. The associated Turtles Have withBeen Watching uplands Me ...... at elevations of elongate “search image”) (Marques Eric Gangloff et 238al. 2006). Khate and 600–1,800 m asl (Daniel 2002). Deshmukh (2020) documented such behavior in the Arrow- In order to BOOKavoid predation,REVIEW snakes, despite being leg- Headed Trinket Snake (Coelognathus helena nigriangularis) less, exhibit a diverse. Threatened repertoire Amphibians of anti-predator of the World edited mechanisms by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann,from the J.S. Indian Chanson, Subcontinent. N.A. Cox, Herein, we report the second R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young ...... Robert Powell 243 (Greene 1988). Herein we describe three types of defensive observation of this behavior in an Indian snake. behavior in Green CONSERVATION Keelbacks along RESEARCH with REPORTS:a report of Summaries diur- of Published ConservationDuring aResearch road Reports survey ...... at about 2030 245 h on 19 October nal mating. All wereNATURAL observed HISTORY in Maharashtra, RESEARCH REPORTS India, : where Summaries of Published2020, ReportsRVD, on NaturalSK, and History AB ...... observed a 247young female Green  NEWBRIEFS ...... 248 the species is quite EDITORIAL common INFORMATION (Whitaker and ...... Captain 2004; Keelback (Rhabdophis plumbicolor...... ) (~450 251 mm in total length) Deshmukh et al. 2015).FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ...... lying motionless along a road divider 252 on the outskirts of Body-bending behavior.—Marques et al. (2006) Kalmeshwar (21.241526°N, 78.904850°E). On closer obser- described body-bending behavior as “a cryptic defensive vation, we noticed multiple, regular bends in the body, caus-

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 young female Green Keelback (Rhabdophis plumbicolor) observed lying motionless along a road divider at the outskirts of Kalmeshwar, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, with multiple regular bends of the body. Photograph by Rahul Deshmukh.

Copyright is held by the authors. Articles in R&A are made available under a 34 Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 2332-4961 Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. DESHMUKH ETAL. REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 28(1):34–36 • APR 2021

Fig. 2. Death-feigning behavior in an adult male Green Keelback (Rhabdophis plumbicolor): (A) Body coiled, head hidden, and venter exposed; (B) slowly righting its head; and (C) reverting to a natural position. Photograph by Rahul Deshmukh. ing it to resemble a piece of bamboo (Fig. 1). We observed During a rescue operation at 1300 h on 11 December the snake for 18 min, during which it exhibited body-bending 2018 in Kalmeshwar (21.224727°N, 78.895595°E), RVD behavior for 11 min. and SK rescued an adult male Green Keelback that had been Death-feigning behavior.—Death-feigning is a form of moving actively but suddenly coiled its body, hid its head, catalepsy or tonic immobility; in most cases, animals exhibit- exposed its venter, and feigned death (Fig. 2). After being ing this behavior “play dead” by maintaining a rigid posture or left undisturbed for one minute, it slowly raised its head and by simulating fully relaxed muscles (Greene 1988) in response assumed a natural position. to external stimuli, including predation attempts (Bhattarai Tail-waving behavior.—Defensive tail displays are et al. 2017). Death-feigning often serves as a last resort when widespread in snakes and such a response to a perceived threat attempts to escape have failed. Records of death-feigning appears to be especially common in young snakes (Mehta in Indian snakes exist for the Checkered Keelback (Fowlea 2006).Tail-vibrating involves the rapid shaking of the tail in piscator), Copper-headed Trinket Snake (Coelognathus radi- response to a predatory threat in order to divert an attack to atus), and Common Wolfsnake (Lycodon aulicus) (Mirza the tail, confuse a predator, or dissuade an attack by advertis- et al. 2011); Large-Eyed False Cobra (Pseudoxenodon mac- ing a venomous bite (Greene 1973). In India, this behavior rops) (Bhosale and Thite 2013); Yellow-collared Wolfsnake has been reported for the Indian Egg-eater (Boiga wester- (Lycodon flavicollis) (Muliya et al. 2018); Common Sand Boa manni), Common Catsnake (Boiga trigonata), Banded Kukri (Eryx conicus) (Deshmukh et al. 2020a), Nicobar Kukri Snake (Oligodon arnensis), and Common Wolfsnake (Lycodon auli- (Oligodon woodmasoni), and Tytler’s Keelback (Fowlea tytleri) cus) (Deshmukh et al. 2020b). Tail-waving behavior, albeit (Chandramouli 2020). Herein we present the first report of slower, appears to serve a similar function. Herein we report death-feigning behavior in a Green Keelback (Rhabdophis the first record of tail-waving behavior in a Green Keelback plumbicolor) from India. (Rhabdophis plumbicolor).

Fig. 3. When approached, this young Green Keelback (Rhabdophis plumbicolor) assumed a defensive position and began to wave its tail. Photograph by Rahul Deshmukh.

35 DESHMUKH ETAL. REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 28(1):34–36 • APR 2021

Fig. 4. A mating pair of Green Keelbacks (Rhabdophis plumbicolor) in a grassy area at the Kuber Resort near Dahegaon Village, Nagpur, Maharashtra. Photograph by Sagar Deshmukh.

At 2215 h on 30 September 2020, RVD, SK, and AB Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago of India. Reptiles & Amphibians 27: 237–238. encountered a young Green Keelback near Kalmeshwar Daniel, J.C. 2002. The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India. (21.246628°N, 78.908123°E). When approached, the snake Deshmukh, R.V., S.A. Deshmukh, and S.A. Badhekar. 2015. Rescued records of assumed an S-shape and started waving its tail (Fig. 3; video avail- snakes from Nagpur District, Maharashtra with data on unrecorded species. able at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0QnS11D0Bg). Reptile Rap 17: 34–46. The snake waved its tail for 3 min while hissing and arching its Deshmukh, R.V., S.A. Deshmukh, S.A. Badhekar, U.M. Udapure, and S.K. Hattimare. 2020a. Death-feigning behavior in the Common Sand Boa, Eryx neck by pressing its head against the ground. Once left undis- conicus (Schneider 1801) (Erycidae), and the Common Wolfsnake, Lycodon turbed, it moved into an adjacent agricultural field. aulicus (Linnaeus 1758) (Colubridae). Reptiles & Amphibians 27: 65–67. Diurnal mating.—Green Keelbacks typically are noctur- Deshmukh, R.V., S.A. Deshmukh, S.A. Badhekar, S. Katgube, S. Bhondawe, and R. Shete. 2020b. Tail-vibrating behavior in an Indian Egg-eater (Boiga wes- nal or crepuscular (Whitaker and Captain 2004). At 1430 h termanni), Common Catsnake (Boiga trigonata), Banded Kukri (Oligodon on a sunny day on 10 November 2020 in a grassy area at the arnensis), and Common Wolfsnake (Lycodon aulicus), from India. Reptiles & Kuber Resort near Dahegaon Village, Nagpur, Maharashtra Amphibians 27: 68–70. Greene, H.W. 1973. Defensive tail display by snakes and amphisbaenians. Journal (21.213462°N, 78.954804°E), SAD, SAB, and SK encoun- of Herpetology 7: 143–161. https://doi.org/10.2307/1563000. tered a mating pair (total length of male ~730 mm, female Green, H.W. 1988. Antipredator mechanisms in reptiles, pp. 1–152. In: C. Gans ~500 mm) (Fig. 4). Mating lasted ~45 min after the initial and R.B. Huey (eds.), Biology of the Reptilia. Volume 16, Ecology B. Defense observation. After separation, both snakes moved into a and Life History. Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York, New York, USA. Khate, D. and R.V. Deshmukh, 2020. First record of body-bending behavior from nearby bush. We cannot say how frequently mating occurs by Asia in the Arrow-headed Trinket snake, Coelognathus helena nigriangularis day, but suspect that it most commonly occurs during usual (Squamata: Colubridae). Reptiles & Amphibians 26: 241–242. activity periods. Maddock, S., B. Tolhurst, M. Brown, M. Peck, E. Villacis Pérez, and J. Noe Morales. 2011. Body bending behaviour: more widespread than previ- ously thought? New reports from two snake species of Northwest Ecuador. Acknowledgements Herpetology Notes 4: 79–81. We are very grateful to Dinesh Khate, Ajit Deshmukh, and Marques, O.A.V., M.G. Rodrigues, and I. Sazima. 2006. Body bending: a cryptic Swapnil Bhondawe. defensive behaviour in arboreal snakes. Herpetological Bulletin. 97: 2–4. Mehta, R.S. 2006. Meal size effects on antipredator behavior of hatchling trin- ket snakes, Elaphe helena. Ethology 116: 649–656. https://doi.org/10.1111/ Literature Cited j.1439-0310.2006.01224.x. Bhattarai, S., C.P. Pokheral, and B.R. Lamichhane. 2017. Death feigning Mirza, Z., V. Vaze, and R. Sanap. 2011. Death feigning behavior in two species behavior in the Burmese python Python bivittatus Kuhl, 1820 in Chitwan of the genus Lycodon of Asia (Squamata: Colubridae). Herpetology Notes 4: National Park, Nepal. Russian Journal of Herpetology 24: 323–326. DOI: 295–297. 10.30906/1026-2296-2019-24-4-323-326. Muliya, S.K., A. Nath, and A. Das. 2018. First report of death feigning behav- Bhosale, H.S. and V. Thite. 2013. Death feigning behavior in Large-eyed False Cobra iour in the yellow collared wolf snake (Lycodon flavicolis). The Herpetological Pseudoxenodon macrops (Blyth, 1854) (Squamata: Colubridae). Russian Journal Bulletin 143: 41–42. of Herpetology 20: 190–192. DOI: 10.30906/1026-2296-2013-20-3-190-192. Whitaker, R. and A. Captain. 2004. Snakes of India: The Field Guide. Draco Books, Chandramouli, S.R. 2020. Death-feigning and defensive behavior in two snakes of the Chennai, India.

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