IRCFREPTILES&AMPHIBIANS•22(4):156–159•DEC2015

Predation on a Blindsnake Genus Typhlops (Squamata: Typhlopidae) by the

Spanish Flag Anole, Anolis allogus (Squamata: Dactyloidae) in Cuba

Tomás M. Rodríguez-Cabrera1 and Ansel Fong G.2

1JardínBotánicodeCienfuegos,PepitoTey,Cienfuegos,CP59290,Cuba(tomasmichel.rodriguez@gmail.com)2CentroOrientaldeEcosistemasyBiodiversidad(BIOECO),MuseodeHistoriaNatural“TomásRomay,”SantiagodeCuba,CP90100,Cuba(ansel@bioeco.cu)

Photographsbytheseniorauthor.

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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S

Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190

The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198

R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E S

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

.............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212

C O N S E R V A T I O N A L E R T

World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225

H U S B A N D R Y

Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226

P R O F I L E

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

C O M M E N T A R Y

The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238

B O O K R E V I E W

Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243

CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 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.Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos accullabo.

Back Cover. Michael KernTotat et velleseque audant mo

estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus

aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque

moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia-tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as

IRC

F

REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSC O N S E R V AT I O N A N D N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y

Copyright©2015.TomásM.Rodríguez-Cabrera.Allrightsreserved.

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The Blindsnake family Typhlopidae (Squamata:Scolecophidia)compriseswellover40currentlyrecog-

nized native West Indian species in as many as four genera (Hedgesetal.2014;butseealsoPyronandWallach2014andNagyetal.2015),plustheintroducedinvasiveandparthe-nogeneticBraminyBlindsnake(Indotyphlops braminus;e.g.,Wallach2009;Hedgesetal.2014;PyronandWallach2014;Domínguez2015).InCuba,12nativespeciesofBlindsnakesare currently recognized, four in thegenusTyphlops and eightinthegenusCubatyphlops, in addition to I. braminus (Domínguezetal.2013;DíazandCádiz2014;Hedgesetal. 2014; Pyron andWallach 2014;Domínguez 2015).However,bothinCubaandthroughouttheregion,addi-tionalspeciesremaintobedescribed(Hedgesetal.2014). Probablyattributableprimarilytotheirsecretivehabits,thenaturalhistoryofBlindsnakesispoorlyknown(e.g.,VittandCaldwell2009).IntheWestIndies,predatorshavebeenreportedforonlyfivespecies(seereviewinHendersonandPowell2009;Table1),representingonlyabout11%ofallWestIndianBlindsnakes.Moreover,thesereportsarelim-itedtoeightpredators,mostofthemsnakesinthefamilyDipsadidae(HendersonandPowell2009;Table1).TheonlyknowninstanceofalizardpreyingonaBlindsnakewasamalePuertoRicanCrestedAnole(Anolis cristatellus)eatingaPuertoRicanCoastalBlindsnake(Antillotyphlops hypomethes;referredthereintothegenusTyphlops;Colón2009).HereinwereportthesecondinstanceofaWestIndiananolepreyingonaBlindsnake,inthiscasefromeasternCuba. At0838hon9June2015,weobservedanadultmaleSpanishFlagAnole (Anolis allogus Barbour and Ramsden 1919;59mmSVL,3.8g)eatingaBlindsnake(Typhlopssp.;155mmSVL)midwayuptheascendingpathtoElYunque(20°20’41.9”N, -74°34’01.5”W, WGS 84; 394 m asl),

Baracoa,GuantánamoProvince,Cuba.Thelizardwasrestingonabushtrunk(8.5mmdiameter,110cmabovetheground)inanalmostverticalpositionwith57mm(37%ofSVL)of

Fig. 1. MaleSpanishFlagAnole(Anolis allogus)consumingaBlindsnake(Typhlops sp.) along the ascending path to El Yunque, Baracoa,Guantánamo Province.

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theBlindsnake’santeriorbodyhangingfromitsmouth(Fig.1).Thesnakewasgentlyremoved.Onlyabout25mmofthesnake’santeriorbodyremainedintact,therestwassubstantiallydamaged(Fig.2B)apparentlyduetomastication.BoththesnakeandlizardaredepositedintheherpetologicalcollectionofBIOECO,SantiagodeCuba(Fieldnumber:AFG-3205). Anolis allogus(Fig.3)isaCubanendemictrunk-groundecomorphwidelydistributedthroughoutthearchipelagoandlocallycommon.Itismostfrequentlyassociatedwithshadedforests(HendersonandPowell2009;RodríguezSchettinoetal.2013).Itfeedsmostlyonarthropods,includinginsects(cockroaches,beetles,flies,hemipterans,ants,termites,lepi-dopteranlarvae,orthopterans,barklice),crustaceans,milli-pedes,andspiders(seereviewinHendersonandPowell2009),butitalsoconsumessmallervertebrates,includingotheranolessuchasgrass-bushecomorphs(Socarrásetal.1988). Blindsnakesareburrowersandrarelyventureontothesurface,butsomehavebeenobservedinarborealsituations

presumablysearchingforprey(e.g.,HendersonandPowell2009;VittandCaldwell2009).TheinstanceofpredationreportedhereinsuggeststhattheBlindsnakewasonthesur-facebyday,duringthediurnalactivityperiodofAnolis allo-gus.Thepredominantvegetationattheobservationsite(i.e.,rainforestonlimestone)producesaheavilyshadedenviron-ment(Fig.4),whichprobablyfacilitatedthesnake’sdaytimemovementonthesurfacewithminimalriskofdehydration.Thesnakeapparentlywascapturedwhiletryingtoescapebecauseitwasbeingingestedtail-first,contrarytoColón’s(2009)observationofheadfirstingestionbyAnolis cristatellus. The specific identityof theblindsnake couldnotbedeterminedduetothedamagedconditionofitsbody(Fig.2B).ThevisiblecharacteristicsallowedustoplaceitintheT. lumbricalisspeciesgroup(sensuDomínguezandDíaz2011),andsomecharacterscoincidewiththerecentlydescribedT. leptolepis(seeDomínguezetal.2013),butwewereunabletodefinitivelyassignthespecimentothatspecies.

IRCFREPTILES&AMPHIBIANS•22(4):156–159•DEC2015RODRÍGUEZANDFONG

Table 1.PredatorsreportedforBlindsnakes(Typhlopidae)intheWestIndies.NotethatPyronandWallach(2014)didnotrecognizeAntillotyphlops and Cubatyphlops,whichtheyconsideredjuniorsynonymsofTyphlops(see,however,Nagyetal.2015).Consequently,snakesfromCuba(exceptforthereportinthispaper),Jamaica,andPuertoRico,listedbelowas“Typhlopssp.,”mightbeinthegeneraCubatyphlops or Antillotyphlops.

Predator Prey Island Source

Amphibia: Anura

Leptodactylidae

Leptodactylus fallax Antillotyphlops dominicanus Dominica Brooks(1982)

Reptilia: Squamata

Dactyloidae

Anolis cristatellus Antillotyphlops hypomethes PuertoRico Colón(2009)

Anolis allogus Typhlops sp. Cuba Thispaper

Dipsadidae

Arrhyton taeniatum Typhlops sp. Cuba SchwartzandHenderson(1991)

Borikenophis portoricensis Antillotyphlops platycephalus PuertoRico HendersonandSajdak(1996)

Typhlops sp. PuertoRico SchwartzandHenderson(1991)

Ialtris agyrtes Typhlops pusillus Hispaniola SchwartzandRossman(1976)

Magliophis stahli Typhlops sp.(adultsandeggs) PuertoRico Rivero(1998)

Schwartzophis funereum Typhlops sp.(eggs) Jamaica SchwartzandHenderson(1991)

Aves: Ciconiiformes

Ardeidae

Egretta thula Antillotyphlops monensis IslaMona Hernández-Prieto(1987)

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RODRÍGUEZANDFONG IRCFREPTILES&AMPHIBIANS•22(4):156–159•DEC2015

AcknowledgementsWethankJavierTorres,RubenMarrero,RobertPowell,andManuel Iturriaga for providing literature references. Javier Torresalsomadeusefulcommentsonthemanuscript.

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Fig. 2. Specimens of the anole predator (Anolis allogus; A) and theBlindsnakeprey(Typhlops sp.;B)collectedalongtheascendingpathtoElYunque,Baracoa,GuantánamoProvince.

Fig. 3. MaleSpanishFlagAnole(Anolis allogus)fromElYunque,Baracoa,Guantánamo Province.

Fig. 4. Habitat whereweobservedthemaleSpanishFlagAnole(Anolis allogus)preyingonaBlindsnake(Typhlops sp.)alongtheascendingpathtoElYunque,Baracoa,GuantánamoProvince.

A

B

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