Saint Lucia racer
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Erythrolamprus
Species:
E. ornatus
Binomial name
Erythrolamprus ornatus
(Garman, 1887)[2]
Synonyms[3]
  • Dromicus giganteus
    Jan, 1863
    (nomen nudum)
  • Dromicus ornatus Garman, 1887
  • Liophis ornatus (Garman, 1887)

Erythrolamprus ornatus, also known commonly as the ornate ground snake and the Saint Lucia racer, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae.[2] The species is native to the eastern Caribbean. It is the rarest snake on earth with fewer than 20 left in the wild.[4]

Geographic range

Erythrolamprus ornatus is endemic to Saint Lucia,[5] an island nation in the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It once lived all over Saint Lucia, but now is only found on the islet of Maria Major.[6]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of E. ornatus are forest and shrubland, at altitudes from sea level to 950 m (3,120 ft).[1]

Description

Adults of this non-venomous snake, E. ornatus, may attain a total length (including tail) of 123.5 cm (48.6 in).[7] Its coloration is variable. Some individuals have a broad brown vertebral stripe. In others, the brown stripe is interrupted by alternating yellow spots.[7]

Behavior

Erythrolamprus ornatus is probably diurnal.[7] Erythrolamprus ornatus is a ambush predator.[6]

Diet

Erythrolamprus ornatus preys on small rodents and lizards.[7]

Reproduction

Erythrolamprus ornatus is oviparous.[3]

Conservation status

In 1936, E. ornatus was declared extinct, but it was rediscovered in 1973. It disappeared again soon after, but 11 individuals were found in 2012 on the mongoose-free island of Maria Major off the coast of Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia.[8][9] Currently the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, working with Fauna & Flora International, Saint Lucia National Trust and Saint Lucia Forestry Department, are working to build a captive breeding population with two facilities, one for breeding the snakes and one for cultivating food sources.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 Daltry JC (2016). "Erythrolamprus ornatus (errata version published in 2017)". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T12080A115104404. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T12080A71739705.en. Downloaded on 08 May 2020. (Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is endangered).
  2. 1 2 ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
  3. 1 2 Species Erythrolamprus ornatus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  4. ↑ "Saint Lucia racer". Fauna & Flora International.
  5. ↑ Schwartz A, Thomas R (1975). A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. (Dromicus ornatus, p. 183).
  6. 1 2 "Fauna & Flora International".
  7. 1 2 3 4 Malhotra A, Thorpe RS (1999). Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. London: Macmillan. ix + 134 pp. ISBN 0-333-69141-5. (Erythrolamprus ornatus, p. 97).
  8. ↑ "Snake Returns from Extinction". Discovery News. July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  9. ↑ Victor, Jeannette (14 March 2017). "Facts about St. Lucian snakes including the rarest in the world". St Lucia News Online. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "Breeding facility set up for Critically Endangered Saint Lucia racer | Durrell". www.durrell.org. Retrieved 2023-11-28.

Further reading

  • Garman S (1887). "On West Indian Reptiles in the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, at Cambridge, Mass". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 24: 278–286. (Dromicus ornatus, new species, p. 281).
  • Grazziotin FG, Zaher H, Murphy RW, Scrocchi G, Benavides MA, Zhang Y-P, Bonatto SL (2012). "Molecular Phylogeny of the New World Dipsadidae (Serpentes: Colubroidea): a reappraisal". Cladistics 28 (5): 437–459. (Erythrolamprus ornatus, new combination, p. 457).
  • Parker HW (1936). "Some extinct Snakes of the West Indies". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Tenth Series 18: 227–233.
  • Schwartz A, Henderson RW (1991). Amphibians & Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press. 720 pp. ISBN 978-0813010496. (Liophis ornatus, p. 625).
  • Smith HM, Dixon JR, Wallach V (1993). "Dromicus giganteus Jan (Reptilia: Serpentes) is a nomen nudum ". Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society 29 (3): 77–79.
  • Williams RJ, Ross TN, Morton MN, Daltry JC, Isidore L (2016). "Update on the natural history and conservation status of the Saint Lucia racer, Erythrolamprus ornatus Garman, 1887 (Squamata: Dipsadidae)". Herpetology Notes 9: 157–162.
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