Predation Attempt by the Cuban Racer, Cubophis cantherigerus (Squamata: Dipsadidae) on the Cuban Giant Anole, Anolis equestris buidei (Squamata: Dactyloidae), a Threatened Endemic Subspecies

Rodríguez-Cabrera, Tomás M.; López, Javier Torres; Marrero, Ruben; Martínez, José Alejandro

doi:10.17161/randa.v23i1.14098

RandA

2016

DOI: 10.17161/randa.v23i1.14098

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Predation Attempt by the Cuban Racer, Cubophis cantherigerus (Squamata: Dipsadidae) on the Cuban Giant Anole, Anolis equestris buidei (Squamata: Dactyloidae), a Threatened Endemic Subspecies

Tomás M. Rodríguez-Cabrera¹,

Javier Torres López

Ruben Marrero

et al.

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Cited by 3 publications

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“…Herein we report a failed predation attempt by T. melanurus on A. equestris. This constitutes the second case of a Cuban snake trying to feed on a giant anole (see Rodríguez-Cabrera et al 2016) and the first instance in which the unsuccessful predator was a tropidophiid.At 1120 h on 19 July 2022, we documented attempted predation by an adult male T. melanurus (825 mm SVL) on an adult male A. equestris (approximately 280 mm SVL) when the two animals fell from an Octopus Tree (Shefflera actinophylla, Araliaceae) in the "Humedal Grande" Local Development Project, Morón, Ciego de Avila Province, Cuba (22.122778 N, 78.63111 W). The snake was coiled around the lizard's body and was biting its head while the lizard was biting the snake behind its head (Fig.…”

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confidence: 98%

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confidence: 98%

“…Such events have been reported three times in Cuba. Two of those occasions involved T. melanurus (Fong G. et al 2013;Torres López et al 2014) and the third was by Cubophis catherigerus (Rodríguez-Cabrera et al 2016). Herein we report a failed predation attempt by T. melanurus on A. equestris.…”

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Failed predation by a Cuban Giant Trope, Tropidophis melanurus (Serpentes, Tropidophiidae), on a Cuban Giant Anole, Anolis equestris (Squamata: Dactyloidae)

Caballero

Antigua

2023

RandA

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T he Cuban Giant Trope, Tropidophis melanurus (Schlegel 1837), is the largest species in the genus and also the most abundant in Cuba (Domínguez and Moreno 2003). It has a wide distribution throughout the island and several associated archipelagos (Rodríguez Schettino et al. 2013). The diet of this species consists of frogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis, Eleutherodactylus spp.), lizards (Anolis spp., Leiocephalus spp.), birds, and small mammals (Schwartz and Henderson 1991). However, no report to date documents any Tropidophis attempting to prey on a "crown-giant" ecomorph.The Cuban Giant Anole, Anolis equestris Merrem 1820, is the largest species in this "crown-giant" genus and is widely distributed throughout the Cuban Archipelago (Garrido et al. 2001). Although reports indicate that snakes and mammals take it as prey, the only confirmed predators of A. equestris are birds (Coccyzus merlini, Falco sparverius, and Turdus plumbeus) (Henderson and Powell 2009)."Failed predation" (sensu Begon et al. 2006) occurs when one animal captures another without ingesting it and therefore without receiving an energetic reward. In the case of snakes, which consume their prey whole, the size of the snake relative to its prey can result in a failed predation attempt (e.g., Vincent et al. 2006). Such events have been reported three times in Cuba. Two of those occasions involved T. melanurus (Fong G. et al. 2013;Torres López et al. 2014) and the third was by Cubophis catherigerus (Rodríguez-Cabrera et al. 2016). Herein we report a failed predation attempt by T. melanurus on A. equestris. This constitutes the second case of a Cuban snake trying to feed on a giant anole (see Rodríguez-Cabrera et al. 2016) and the first instance in which the unsuccessful predator was a tropidophiid.At 1120 h on 19 July 2022, we documented attempted predation by an adult male T. melanurus (825 mm SVL) on an adult male A. equestris (approximately 280 mm SVL) when the two animals fell from an Octopus Tree (Shefflera actinophylla, Araliaceae) in the "Humedal Grande" Local Development Project, Morón, Ciego de Avila Province, Cuba (22.122778 N, 78.63111 W). The snake was coiled around the lizard's body and was biting its head while the lizard was biting the snake behind its head (Fig. 1). They held this position for five minutes before an area worker separated them and the lizard ran back to the tree from which they had fallen. Although the snake bore the marks of the lizard's bite, it moved fluidly when released.

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confidence: 98%

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confidence: 98%

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Failed predation by a Cuban Giant Trope, Tropidophis melanurus (Serpentes, Tropidophiidae), on a Cuban Giant Anole, Anolis equestris (Squamata: Dactyloidae)

Caballero

Antigua

2023

RandA

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The Harderian gland transcriptomes of Caraiba andreae, Cubophis cantherigerus and Tretanorhinus variabilis, three colubroid snakes from Cuba

et al. 2019

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The brown anole dewlap revisited: do predation pressure, sexual selection, and species recognition shape among-population signal diversity?

Baeckens

Driessens

Damme

2018

PeerJ

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Animal signalling structures are amongst the most variable characteristics, as they are subjected to a diversity of selection pressures. A well-known example of a diverse signalling system in the animal kingdom is the dewlap of Anolis lizards. Dewlap characteristics can vary remarkably among and within species, and also between sexes. Although a considerable amount of studies have attempted to disentangle the functional significance of the staggering dewlap diversity in Anolis, the underlying evolutionary processes remain elusive. In this study, we focus on the contribution of biotic selective pressures in shaping geographic variation in dewlap design (size, colour, and pattern) and dewlap display behaviour at the intraspecific level. Notably, we have tried to replicate and extend previously reported results hereof in both sexes of the brown anole lizard (Anolis sagrei). To do this, we assembled a dataset consisting of 17 A. sagrei heterogeneous island populations from the Caribbean and specifically tested whether predation pressure, sexual selection, or species recognition could explain interpopulational variation in an array of dewlap characteristics. Our findings show that in neither males nor females estimates of predation pressure (island size, tail break frequency, model attack rate, presence of predatory Leiocephalus lizards) or sexual selection (sexual size dimorphism) could explain variation in dewlap design. We did find that A. sagrei males from larger islands showed higher dewlap display intensities than males from smaller islands, but the direct connection with predation pressure remains ambiguous and demands further investigation. Last, we could show indirect support for species recognition only in males, as they are more likely to have a ‘spotted’ dewlap pattern when co-occurring with a higher number of syntopic Anolis species. In conclusion, we found overall limited support for the idea that the extensive interpopulational variability in dewlap design and use in A. sagrei is mediated by variation in their biotic environment. We propose a variety of conceptual and methodological explanations for this unexpected finding.

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Predation Attempt by the Cuban Racer, Cubophis cantherigerus (Squamata: Dipsadidae) on the Cuban Giant Anole, Anolis equestris buidei (Squamata: Dactyloidae), a Threatened Endemic Subspecies

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Failed predation by a Cuban Giant Trope, Tropidophis melanurus (Serpentes, Tropidophiidae), on a Cuban Giant Anole, Anolis equestris (Squamata: Dactyloidae)

Failed predation by a Cuban Giant Trope, Tropidophis melanurus (Serpentes, Tropidophiidae), on a Cuban Giant Anole, Anolis equestris (Squamata: Dactyloidae)

The Harderian gland transcriptomes of Caraiba andreae, Cubophis cantherigerus and Tretanorhinus variabilis, three colubroid snakes from Cuba

The brown anole dewlap revisited: do predation pressure, sexual selection, and species recognition shape among-population signal diversity?

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