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Herpetological Review Herpetological Review - Doczine

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mm) S. viridicornis in its mouth in a urban park of Museu ParaenseEmílio Goledi (MPEG) (1.4523°S, 48.4762°W, datum: WGS84,elev. 25 m), where the trees are closely spaced but significant openareas still exist. The T. oreadicus exhibited some difficulty ingestingthe centipede because its caudal appendices and the last twopair of legs were protruding from the lizard’s mouth for 9 minbefore the lizard was able to completely swallow it.My observation reveals that medium-sized (> 90 mm) centipedescan be vulnerable to medium-sized lizards, like Tropidurus species.In 71 T. oreadicus stomachs, centipedes were present in six(Ávila-Pires, op. cit.). Scolopendromorph centipedes can delivera painful bite that has potential medical implications for humansand have been reported to sometimes prey upon small lizards(Lewis 1981. The Biology of Centipedes. Cambridge UniversityPress, Cambridge, United Kingdom. 476 pp.), so they may presentsome risk that is in part related to size. Scolopendra viridicornis isa common large or medium-sized species in Brazil that can alsobe found in Guyana, Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina(Adis 2002. In Adis [org.], Amazonian Arachnida and Myriapoda—Identification Keys to All Classes, Orders, Families, Some Genera,and Lists of Known Terrestrial Species. Pensoft Publishers,Sofia, Bulgaria. 590 pp.).Submitted by FERNANDO DA SILVA CARVALHO-FILHO,Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Pará, RuaAugusto Corrêa, 01, CEP 66040-170, Guamá, Belém-PA, Brazil;e-mail: fernanbio@yahoo.com.br.TROPIDURUS OREADICUS (Neotropical Ground Lizard).CNEMIDOPHORUS LEMNISCATUS (Rainbow Whiptail).PREDATION. Tropidurus oreadicus and Cnemidophoruslemniscatus are common lizards in open and sunny areas in easternAmazonia (Ávila-Pires 1995. Lizards of Brazilian Amazonian(Reptilia: Squamata). Zool. Verhandelinger 299:1–706). Hawksof the genera Leucopternis and Gampsonyx and the Common Egret,Egretta alba, are documented avian predators of C. lemniscatus(Hoogmoed 1973. Biogeographica 4:1–419; Ávila-Pires, op. cit.),but few avian predators of T. oreadicus have been reported (Ávila-Pires, op. cit.). Here, I describe an observation of Guira Cuckoo(Guira guira) predation on T. oreadicus and C. lemniscatus fromnorthern Brazil.At 1520 h on May 2006, a clear sunny day, I observed a flock of11 adult G. guira foraging on mowed grass on the campus ofUniversidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará State, Brazil (1.47°S,48.45°E). During my observation, I noted a disturbance in birdgroup as one member of flock arose with a dead juvenile of T.oreadicus (ca. 5 cm SVL) in its bill. The G. guira began to run toavoid another member of its flock that tried to steal the lizard.When the G. guira with the lizard had distanced itself from itscongener, it swallowed the lizard by head first. The entire predationepisode took 9 min.Forty minutes later, I noted another G. guira with a C.lemniscatus (ca. 10 cm SVL) in its beak. The lizard, held sidewaysby its neck, was entirely limp (including tail and limbs) andseemed dead. The lizard remained limp during the entire 2 minobservation period, after which the G. guira flew out of view withits prey to a nearby tree, because three members of its flock simultaneouslytried to steal the lizard.Our observations suggest that G. guira may be important lizardpredators in open habitats. The Guira Cuckoo, one of the bestknownabundant birds in eastern Brazil, is common in parks, cities,pastures, and plantations, but is absent from most of Amazoniabecause it avoids continuous forests; it is also frequent in grasslandsalong the Amazonian estuary (Sigrist 2006. Aves do Brasil,uma Visão Artística. Brazil, São Paulo. 672 pp.). This bird is anactive forager, preying on insects and small vertebrates such asfrogs, mice, and small birds (Martins and Donatelli 2001. Ararajuba9:89–94; Sigrist 2006, op. cit.), but few records exist of its preyingon lizards.Submitted by FERNANDO DA SILVA CARVALHO-FILHO,Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Pará, RuaAugusto Corrêa, 01, CEP 66040-170, Guamá, Belém-PA, Brazil;e–mail: fernanbio@yahoo.com.br.SQUAMATA — SNAKESBOTHROPS ASPER (Terciopelo). PREDATION. Few predatorsof neotropical lanceheaded pitvipers (Bothrops) have beenidentified (Campbell and Lamar 2004. The Venomous Reptiles ofthe Western Hemisphere. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NewYork. xviii+870+[28] pp.). I herein report predation on B. asperby a land crab (Gecarcinus quadratus, Gecarcinidae). On 26 August2003 at 2000 h I found a juvenile B. asper (SVL ca. 60 cm) coiledup next to a trail in the coastal rain forest near La Leona station,Corcovado National Park, Peninsular de Osa, Costa Rica. When Ipassed the spot again at 2230 h, the snake was dead, with theanterior half of its body laying inside a hole in the ground. Thehole turned out to be the burrow of a large land crab, which wasfound at the end of the burrow. It had already eaten the snake’shead and anterior parts of the body. The short period between thetwo observations makes it unlikely that the snake was killedotherwise and only subsequently eaten by the crab. Gecarcinusquadratus, which is considered a seed and seedling predator, isabundant in the coastal forest of the Corcovado National Park,with up to six crabs / m 2 (Sherman 2002. J. Trop. Ecol. 18:67–89),and can be found several hundred meters from the coast inside theforest (pers. obs.). It is therefore possible that this crab is a regular,though opportunistic, predator of B. asper and other snakes in thisarea.Submitted by JONAS MAXIMILIAN DEHLING, Departmentof Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biozentrum, Universityof Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany; e-mail:Jonas.M.Dehling@stud-mail.uni-wuerzburg.de.230 <strong>Herpetological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 39(2), 2008

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