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Predation on the lizard Ameiva ameiva (Sauria: Teiidae) by a … · 2013-07-11 · Predation on...
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The New World coral snakes of the genus Micrurus have a wide distribution in South America, especially in Brazil (Campbell and Lamar, 2004). In this last country, 24 species are recognized (Bérnils, 2009), occurring in a great variety of ecosystems, from Amazon to Atlantic Forest and Brazilian Savannah (Cerrado) (Campbell and Lamar, 2004). Micrurus frontalis comprises a complex currently with eight recognized species (Silva Jr. and Sites Jr., 1999; Di-Bernardo, Borges-Martins and Silva Jr., 2007). In Brazil, six species of this group are known to occur: M. altirostris, M. brasiliensis, M. frontalis, M. pyrrhocryptus, M. silviae and M. tricolor, with a distribution along virtually all the territory situated south of the Amazon Basin (Silva Jr. and Sites Jr., 1999; 2001; Di-Bernardo, Borges-Martins and Silva Jr., 2007; Bérnils, 2009). Micrurus frontalis has the largest distribution of this complex, from the central portion of the Brazilian Savannah (States of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul) to the coastal Atlantic Forest of Espírito Santo (Silva Jr. and Sites Jr., 1999). The diet of this snake is poorly studied in details under natural conditions. Some data about M. frontalis (Sazima and Abe, 1991; Roze, 1996; França et al., 2008) and sympatric species like M. corallinus (Marques and Sazima, 1997) show that these animals feed on preys that have an elongate form, including amphisbaenians, caecilians, snakes (normally colubrids), and lizards. In this last case, data about saurophagy in Micrurus show that the lizards preyed were predominantly cryptozoic species (Greene, 1984; Sazima and Abe, 1991; Marques and Sazima, 1997). In this note, we report a case of predation on the terrestrial lizard Ameiva ameiva by the subterranean coral snake Micrurus frontalis in a Brazilian Savannah area, in Southeastern Brazil. The event was observed in the afternoon (15:25 h; 26°C) on 29 September 2007, in an anthropic area located in a remaining of “Cerradão” (a subtype of vegetation from Brazilian Savannah), in the Municipality of Bauru, State of São Paulo (22°20’31”S, 49°00’58”W, 550 m elev.). The snake, an adult female of the elapid M. frontalis (900mm SVL; 180g), was found inside a burrow eating (head first) a young female of A. ameiva (170mm SVL; 60g), a teiid that occurs in nearly all tropical habitats of South America (Pianka and Vitt, 2003). The prey was paralyzed and with the belly facing up (Fig. 1). This process was accompanied for 17 minutes and the coral snake, probably under the influence of the observer, interrupted the process of ingestion. Both animals were collected and added to the herpetological collection of the BAURU ZOO (without numbers). Several species of Micrurus are known to prey upon lizards in natural conditions (Greene, 1984; Sazima and Abe, 1991), mainly cryptozoic species. Martins and Oliveira (1998) report M. averyi, M. hemprichii, M. lemniscatus and M. spixii preying on Gymnophthalmidae. Jackson and Franz (1981) and Greene (1997) mention Anguidae and Scincidae lizards as the main items in Herpetology Notes, volume 2: 235-237 (2009) (published online on 11 December 2009) Predation on the lizard Ameiva ameiva (Sauria: Teiidae) by a coral snake Micrurus frontalis (Serpentes: Elapidae) in Brazil Fábio Maffei 1* , Gerson Rodrigues do Nascimento 2 , Domingos Garrone Neto 3 1 Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, 18618-000, Botucatu, SP, Brazil; e-mail: [email protected] 2 Setor de Répteis, Parque Zoológico Municipal de Bauru - BAURU ZOO, 17040-900, Bauru, SP, Brazil; e-mail: [email protected] 3 Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Anhanguera Educacional S. A. - AESA, 17021-005, Bauru, SP, Brazil; e-mail: [email protected] * corresponding author Abstract. We report a case of elapid predation on a lizard in Brazilian Savannah. A subterranean coral snake (Micrurus frontalis) was found preying a green lizard (Ameiva ameiva) in Southeastern Brazil. Keywords. Reptilia, Squamata, Lacertilia, Ophidia, saurophagy, diet, feeding habits.
Transcript of Predation on the lizard Ameiva ameiva (Sauria: Teiidae) by a … · 2013-07-11 · Predation on...
The New World coral snakes of the genus Micrurus have a wide distribution in South America, especially in Brazil (Campbell and Lamar, 2004). In this last country, 24 species are recognized (Bérnils, 2009), occurring in a great variety of ecosystems, from Amazon to Atlantic Forest and Brazilian Savannah (Cerrado) (Campbell and Lamar, 2004).
Micrurus frontalis comprises a complex currently with eight recognized species (Silva Jr. and Sites Jr., 1999; Di-Bernardo, Borges-Martins and Silva Jr., 2007). In Brazil, six species of this group are known to occur: M. altirostris, M. brasiliensis, M. frontalis, M. pyrrhocryptus, M. silviae and M. tricolor, with a distribution along virtually all the territory situated south of the Amazon Basin (Silva Jr. and Sites Jr., 1999; 2001; Di-Bernardo, Borges-Martins and Silva Jr., 2007; Bérnils, 2009). Micrurus frontalis has the largest distribution of this complex, from the central portion of the Brazilian Savannah (States of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul) to the coastal Atlantic Forest of Espírito Santo (Silva Jr. and Sites Jr., 1999).
The diet of this snake is poorly studied in details under natural conditions. Some data about M. frontalis (Sazima and Abe, 1991; Roze, 1996; França et al., 2008)
and sympatric species like M. corallinus (Marques and Sazima, 1997) show that these animals feed on preys that have an elongate form, including amphisbaenians, caecilians, snakes (normally colubrids), and lizards. In this last case, data about saurophagy in Micrurus show that the lizards preyed were predominantly cryptozoic species (Greene, 1984; Sazima and Abe, 1991; Marques and Sazima, 1997).
In this note, we report a case of predation on the terrestrial lizard Ameiva ameiva by the subterranean coral snake Micrurus frontalis in a Brazilian Savannah area, in Southeastern Brazil.
The event was observed in the afternoon (15:25 h; 26°C) on 29 September 2007, in an anthropic area located in a remaining of “Cerradão” (a subtype of vegetation from Brazilian Savannah), in the Municipality of Bauru, State of São Paulo (22°20’31”S, 49°00’58”W, 550 m elev.). The snake, an adult female of the elapid M. frontalis (900mm SVL; 180g), was found inside a burrow eating (head first) a young female of A. ameiva (170mm SVL; 60g), a teiid that occurs in nearly all tropical habitats of South America (Pianka and Vitt, 2003). The prey was paralyzed and with the belly facing up (Fig. 1). This process was accompanied for 17 minutes and the coral snake, probably under the influence of the observer, interrupted the process of ingestion. Both animals were collected and added to the herpetological collection of the BAURU ZOO (without numbers).
Several species of Micrurus are known to prey upon lizards in natural conditions (Greene, 1984; Sazima and Abe, 1991), mainly cryptozoic species. Martins and Oliveira (1998) report M. averyi, M. hemprichii, M. lemniscatus and M. spixii preying on Gymnophthalmidae. Jackson and Franz (1981) and Greene (1997) mention Anguidae and Scincidae lizards as the main items in
Herpetology Notes, volume 2: 235-237 (2009) (published online on 11 December 2009)
Predation on the lizard Ameiva ameiva (Sauria: Teiidae) by a coral snake Micrurus frontalis (Serpentes: Elapidae) in Brazil
Fábio Maffei1*, Gerson Rodrigues do Nascimento2, Domingos Garrone Neto3
1 Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, 18618-000, Botucatu, SP, Brazil; e-mail: [email protected]
2 Setor de Répteis, Parque Zoológico Municipal de Bauru - BAURU ZOO, 17040-900, Bauru, SP, Brazil; e-mail: [email protected]
3 Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Anhanguera Educacional S. A. - AESA, 17021-005, Bauru, SP, Brazil; e-mail: [email protected]
* corresponding author
Abstract. We report a case of elapid predation on a lizard in Brazilian Savannah. A subterranean coral snake (Micrurus frontalis) was found preying a green lizard (Ameiva ameiva) in Southeastern Brazil.
Keywords. Reptilia, Squamata, Lacertilia, Ophidia, saurophagy, diet, feeding habits.
Fábio Maffei et al. 236
the diet of M. fulvius. Marques and Sazima (1997) cite Anguidae, Scincidae, and Gymnophthalmidae as prey of M. corallinus.
The predation on teiids and other terrestrial lizards by coral snakes in natural conditions seems to be uncommon, probably due the fact of these elapids having predominantly fossorial habits and normally prey on species with less exposed habits (Sazima and Abe, 1991; Roze, 1996; Marques and Sazima, 1997; Campbell and Lamar, 2004; França et al., 2008). However, the fact that the observation was made on afternoon, a period where M. frontalis and A. ameiva are expected to be in activity, shows that in some cases the encounter of coral snakes with potential preys without cryptic habits may result in predation, demonstrating the potential opportunism of this group of snakes.
To the best of our knowledge, this kind of behaviour has so far been reported only for M. spixii, with the observation of Kentropyx sp. (Teiidae) in its diet (Martins and Oliveira 1998). This study represents the first record in wide of saurophagy by M. frontalis, and extends the knowledge about predation of teiids by elapids in the New World.
Acknowledgements. We greatly thank to Maria Emília Bodini Santiago (BAURU ZOO) for the photographs and Marcelo Ribeiro Duarte (Instituto Butantan) for valuable information about saurophagy in Micrurus spp.
References
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Greene, H.W. (1984): Feeding behavior and diet of the eastern coral snake, Micrurus fluvius. Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist. Spec. Publ. 10: 147-162.
Greene, H.W. (1997): Snakes: The evolution of mystery in na-ture. University of California Press, California, USA.
Jackson, D.R., Franz, R. (1981): Ecology of the Eastern Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius) in Northern Peninsular Florida. Her-petologica. 37: 213-228.
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Figure 1. Micrurus frontalis (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) preying on an Ameiva ameiva (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Brazilian Savannah. Photograph: Maria E. B. Santiago.
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Pianka, E.R, Vitt, L.J. (2003): Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity. University of California Press, Berkeley, Califor-nia, USA.
Roze, J.A. (1996). Coral snakes of the Americas: biology, identi-fication, and venoms. Malabar, Krieger Publishing Company.
Sazima, I., Abe, A. (1991): Habits of five Brazilian snakes with coral-snake pattern, including a summary of defensive tatics. Stud. Neotrop. Fauna Environ. 26:159-164.
Silva Jr., N.J., Sites Jr., J.W. (1999): Revision of the Micrurus frontalis complex (Serpentes: Elapidae). Herpetological Mon-ographs. 13: 142-194.
Silva Jr., N.J., Sites Jr., J.W. (2001): Phylogeny of South Ameri-can triad coral snakes (Elapidae: Micrurus) based on molecu-lar characters. Herpetologica. 57: 1-22
Accepted by Miguel Vences
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