Natural History of the Vine Snake<i>Oxybelis Fulgidus</i>(Serpentes, Colubridae) From Brazil

Scartozzoni, Rodrigo Roveri; Salomão, Maria da Graça; Almeida‐Santos, Selma Maria

doi:10.2994/057.004.0111

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The inverse relationship between RSVL and inferred gravitational stress is surprising given the generally intense selection for fecundity and a longer SVL in female snakes (Madsen & Shine ; Shine ). Body size (SVL) and litter or clutch size are often positively correlated in snakes (Vitt & Vangilder ; Madsen & Shine ; Seigel & Ford ), including some stenotopically arboreal species (Scartozzoni, Salomão & de Almeida‐Santos ). However, the pattern of decreasing RSVL with increasing gravitational stress suggests there is an evolutionary trade‐off between relatively long tails and fecundity in arboreal species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of tail length in snakes associated with different gravitational environments

2015

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Summary Gravity imposes potentially important constraints on blood circulation in tall or elongate animals during upright posture or climbing. Upright postures create vertical gradients of gravitational (=hydrostatic) pressures within circulatory vessels. In terrestrial animals, this pressure potentially induces blood pooling and oedema in dependent (inferior) tissues and, secondarily, decreases blood volume reaching the head and vital organs. Arboreal snakes exhibit a suite of adaptations for countering the effects of gravity on blood circulation, including relatively non‐compliant tissue compartments in the tail. However, patterns of tail length related to arboreal habitats and gravity have not been previously studied. Here, we test the hypothesis that arboreal snakes have relatively longer tails than non‐climbing species, and we interpret the results within the context of adaptation to gravity stress. Length data were obtained for 226 snake species, 139 genera and 15 snake families assigned to three broad gravitational habitat categories (G‐habitats: stenotopically arboreal, eurytopically arboreal/terrestrial and non‐scansorial). We constructed a composite phylogenetic tree and quantified the relationships between snake morphology and G‐habitat using conventional regression analysis of species data and regressions of phylogenetically independent contrasts. Mean relative tail length (RTL) increased and mean relative snout‐vent length decreased with increasing arboreality among the three G‐habitats. However, mean total body length (TL) was not different between the two arboreal G‐habitats. Snakes with longer RTLs have a higher percentage of elongate blood vessels contained within the relatively non‐compliant integument of the tail, which mitigates postural blood pooling experienced during climbing. TL in adult female arboreal snakes is hypothesized to be an evolutionary trade‐off between demands for a longer tail to enhance cardiovascular performance and the length of body cavity to provide space for young. Our results complement previous studies correlating RTL with arboreal habitat use, in addition to physiological experiments quantifying the effects of gravity on blood flow in snakes. These results provide evidence that long RTLs of arboreal snakes function, at least in part, as an adaptive response to cardiovascular stresses on blood circulation imposed by gravity. Selection on tail length related to other factors seems less likely, but is in need of further investigation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of tail length in snakes associated with different gravitational environments

2015

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“…The pattern of sexual dimorphism observed in M. boddaerti, in which females are generally larger than males, is typical for many snakes (OROFINO et al 2010, PIZZATTO & MARQUES 2002, PIZZATTO et al 2008, SCARTOZZONI et al 2009, ZANELLA & CECHIN 2010. Sexual dimorphism in which males are larger than females is normally restricted to species in which males compete directly for access to breeding females (SHINE 1993), as within Chironius Fitzinger, 1826, in which the males of most species attain larger sizes than females and are likely to display male-male combat (ALMEIDA- SANTOS & MARQUES 2002, MARQUES et al 2009.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Geographical variation in the reproduction and sexual dimorphism of the Boddaert's tropical racer, Mastigodryas boddaerti (Serpentes: Colubridae)

Siqueira¹,

Nascimento²,

Montingelli

et al. 2013

Zoologia (Curitiba)

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“…The author mistakenly identified it to be O. fulgidus, but this animal was captured in Coahuila, a state in the north of Mexico. According to Scartozzoni, this species is not found in Northern Mexico 9,3 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The monophyletic genus Oxybelis comprises four species, namely O. aeneus, O. brevirostris, O. wilsoni, and O. fulgidus. The Green Vine Snake, Oxybelis fulgidus (Serpentes, Colubridae), is an arboreal diurnal colubrid widely distributed in the Americas and found in Southern Mexico and Central, North and Tropical South America 3 . This species has an increased head and body size to accommodate larger prey but has retained snout attenuation to increase visual acuity and facilitate predation on active lizards (mainly Iguanians) and birds (mainly Passeriformes), with accumulating well-recorded field observations in Mexico, El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica, Guiana, and Brazil 3 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A case of envenomation caused by Oxybelis fulgidus (Serpentes, Colubridae) in Brazilian Amazon

Silva

Said

Assy

et al. 2019

Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop.

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A case of a bite inflicted by Oxybelis fulgidus in the wilds of Amazon is reported. The patient was a 67-year-old man who presented with dizziness, tachycardia and local pain, with erythema and bleeding in his left arm. The venom of Oxybelis fulgidus, a neotropical rear-fanged snake, contains one of the four three-finger toxins already isolated from colubrid snakes, called fulgimotoxin. He was treated with oral analgesics and returned to the ambulatory in 48 hours, with good evolution. We report tirst authenticated case of adult Oxybelis fulgidus with signs of mild local envenoming without evidence of systemic envenoming.

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Natural History of the Vine SnakeOxybelis Fulgidus(Serpentes, Colubridae) From Brazil

Cited by 14 publications

References 29 publications

The evolution of tail length in snakes associated with different gravitational environments

The evolution of tail length in snakes associated with different gravitational environments

Geographical variation in the reproduction and sexual dimorphism of the Boddaert's tropical racer, Mastigodryas boddaerti (Serpentes: Colubridae)

A case of envenomation caused by Oxybelis fulgidus (Serpentes, Colubridae) in Brazilian Amazon

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