Mastigodryas boddaerti

Mastigodryas boddaerti
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Colubrinae
Genus: Mastigodryas
Species: M. boddaerti
Binomial name
Mastigodryas boddaerti
(Sentzen, 1796)
Synonyms
  • Coluber boddaertii Sentzen, 1796
  • Herpetodryas boddaertii
    — Schlegel, 1837
  • Drymobius boddaertii
    — Cope, 1860
  • Eudryas boddaertii
    — Stuart, 1933
  • Dryadophis boddaerti
    — Stuart, 1939
  • Mastigodryas boddaerti
    — Gorzula & Señaris, 1999[1][2]

Mastigodryas boddaerti, commonly known as the Boddaert's tropical racer, is a species of colubrid snake endemic to tropical South America and Trinidad and Tobago.[2][3]

Distribution

Mastigodryas boddaerti occurs in Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, French Guiana, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.[2][4]

Description

Mastigodryas boddaerti change coloration ontogenetically. Juveniles from Guyana have brown dorsum with grayish tan bands, with white spots ventrolaterally on anterior ends of the tan bands. Chin and throat white have dark brown irregular spots. Venter is tan colored. Adults are nearly uniform brown dorsally, with traces of bands anteriorly. There is a lateral light tan stripe on anterior half of body. Venter is light gray with darker gray smudges on throat.[4] Individuals from Brazilian Amazonas measured up to 109 cm (43 in) in snout–vent length.[5]

Diet

It feeds on young birds, lizards and mice.[3] Specimens from Brazilian Amazonas fed mostly on lizards, followed by mammals and frogs.[5]

Subspecies

Three subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]

Etymology

The specific name, boddaerti, is in honor of Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert.[6] The subspecific names, dunni and ruthveni, are in honor of American herpetologists Emmett Reid Dunn and Alexander G. Ruthven.

References

  1. ↑ 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. (Drymobius boddaertii, pp. 11-14.)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Mastigodryas boddaerti at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 27 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 Boos, Hans E.A. (2001). The Snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas. ISBN 1-58544-116-3.
  4. 1 2 Cole, C. J.; Townsend, C. R.; Reynolds, R. P.; MacCulloch, R. D.; Lathrop, A. (2013). "Amphibians and reptiles of Guyana, South America: Illustrated keys, annotated species accounts, and a biogeographic synopsis". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 125 (4): 317–578. doi:10.2988/0006-324X-125.4.317.
  5. 1 2 Siqueira, Débora M.; Nascimento, Loana P.; Santos-Costa, Maria Cristina Dos (2012). "Feeding biology of Boddaert's tropical racer, Mastigodryas boddaerti (Serpentes, Colubridae) from the Brazilian Amazon". South American Journal of Herpetology 7 (3): 226–232. doi:10.2994/057.007.0304.
  6. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins; Michael Grayson. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore. xiii + 312 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Mastigodryas boddaerti, p. 29.)

Further reading

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