Barbados racer

Barbados racer
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Xenodontinae
Genus: Liophis
Species: L. perfuscus
Binomial name
Liophis perfuscus
Cope, 1862
Synonyms
  • Erythrolamprus perfuscus (Cope, 1862)
  • Dromicus perfuscus – Grant, 1959

The Barbados racer (Liophis perfuscus), also commonly known as the tan ground snake, is a species of colubrid snake that is endemic to Barbados.[1][2]

History

This is species is often believe to the snake described by Richard Ligon in his "A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes" (1657):[3]

"Having done with Beasts and Birds, we will enquire what other lesser Animalls or Insects there are upon the Iland, of which, Snakes are the chiefe, because the largest; and I have seen some of those a yard and a halfe long."[4]

Conservation status

Though the species is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its assessment from 1996,[1] it is actually believed to be extinct, as there has not been a confirmed sighting since 1961.[3][5][6][7] Habitat loss is believed to have caused its decline, particularly the land clearance and pesticide use associated with tree crops.[8]

Description

It grew to a total length of 1 m (39 in), which included a tail 20 cm (7.9 in) long.[9] It was colored brown with lighter sides, and light lateral stripes to the rear.[10]

Habitat, behavior, and diet

It probably lived in mesic habitats, and actively foraged during the day for lizards and frogs.[10]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 Carrington, C.M.S., Evans, G. & Horrocks, J. (1996). "Erythrolamprus perfuscus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN) 1996: e.T12081A3321705. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Erythrolamprus perfuscus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 28 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 Adrian Hailey; Byron Wilson; Julia Horrocks (7 April 2011). Conservation of Caribbean Island Herpetofaunas Volume 2: Regional Accounts of the West Indies. Brill. pp. 99–100. ISBN 90-04-19408-8.
  4. ↑ Ligon, Richard (1657). A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes (PDF). London.
  5. ↑ Malhotra & Thorpe 1999, p. 98 ("[I]t is almost certainly extinct")
  6. ↑ Government of Barbados 2002, p. 55 ("If it is not already extinct, Liophis is certainly one of the world’s rarest species")
  7. ↑ Powell & Henderson 2005, p. 65 (listing L. perfuscus as "probably extinct" and "eliminated" from Barbados).
  8. ↑ Government of Barbados 2002, p. 55.
  9. ↑ Boulenger, G.A. 1894. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, Printers.) London. xi + 382 pp. + Plates I.- XX. (Liophis perfuscus, p. 133.)
  10. 1 2 Malhotra & Thorpe 1999, p. 98.

References

Further reading

External links

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