Terre-de-Haut racer

Terre-de-Haut racer
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Superfamily: Colubridae
Family: Dipsadidae
Subfamily: Xenodontinae
Genus: Alsophis
Species: A. sanctonum
Barbour, 1915
Binomial name
Alsophis sanctonum
Subspecies
  • A.sanctonum sanctonum Barbour, 1915
  • A.sanctonum danforthi Cochran, 1938.
Synonyms

Alsophis antillensis

The Terre-de-Haut racer (Alsophis sanctonum) is a species of snake found in the Caribbean, on the Lesser Antilles. This species is endemic to Terre-de-Bas Island and Terre-de-Haut Island which make up the Îles des Saintes. Terre-de-Bas and Terre-de-Haut are very small islands with a total area of approximately 13 km2. Because of its presence only on this small area, it is a highly protected species.

It can reach nearly a meter in length. It feeds on lizards and small rodents. It rarely bites humans, but may release a foul-smelling (though harmless) cloacal secretion when disturbed.

Habitat

Alsophis sanctonum occurs along mangrove edges, roadsides, gardens, wooded areas, preferentially in semi-deciduous forest with Pimenta racemosa, Pisonia grandis, Guapinol, and Bursera simaruba. It is present in areas less frequented by humans.

Subspecies

References

  1. Breuil, M., Day, M. & Knapp, C. (2010). "Alsophis sanctonum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 12 December 2011.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 22, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.