Crotalus durissus (Linnaeus, 1758) “Cascavel”

(Figs. 10.6 and 23.2)

It occurs throughout the Caatinga, from sea level to 1,100 m elevation. It is a typical snake of open areas, with a very wide range along South America. It is also distributed in Cerrado, Pantanal, and Pampas (Cechin 1999; Lema 2002a; Marques et al. 2005; Bérnils et al. 2008; Nogueira et al. 2010). Although it can be found also in forest edges in the Atlantic Forest (TBG pers. obs), in highland areas it was detected only in open caatinga vegetation. It has terrestrial habits, is nocturnal, and feeds mostly on mammals (Marques et al. 2005; Guedes 2006).