Siphlophis worontzowi Prado, 1940

De Alencar, Arília Aiarsa Laura R. V. & Martins, Marcio, 2013, Natural History Of Pseudoboine Snakes, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 53 (19), pp. 261-283 : 277

Siphlophis worontzowi Prado, 1940

Distribution: Siphlophis worontzowi is known from western Brazil, northern Bolivia, and southern Peru ( Silva, 1993; Prudente et al., 1998; Zaher & Prudente, 1999; Frota et al., 2005; Bernarde & Abe, 2006; Moravec et al., 2009; Costa et al., 2010).

Habitat and time of activity: This small pseudoboine (maximum SVL = 746 mm, male; this study) inhabits forests and open areas, and also disturbed areas ( Silva, 1993; Bernarde, 2004; Bernarde & Abe, 2006; P. Bernarde, unpublished data). Two individuals were found active on the vegetation ( Bernarde, 2004; Bernarde & Abe, 2006) and one on the ground (P. Bernarde, unpublished data). This species is active during the night (N = 2; Bernarde, 2004; Bernarde & Abe, 2006), and there is one record of an individual active during twilight ( Bernarde, 2004).

Feeding: Siphlophis worontzowi seems to eat mainly lizards (N = 5, Iphisa elegans ; Prudente et al., 1998; Bernarde & Abe, 2006, 2010; this study), and we also found a frog as prey.

Reproduction: There are no data available regarding S. worontzowi reproduction.

Natural history Summary

The tribe Pseudoboini is very diverse in terms of its natural history. The tribe is comprised of small (e.g., Drepanoides anomalus , Oxyrhopus doliatus and all the Phimophis ) to large-sized snakes (e.g., Clelia and Mussurana ). The maximum SVL ranges from 300 mm ( Rodriguesophis chui ) to 2790 mm ( Clelia plumbea ).

We were able to gather information of microhabitat use for 30 species (63%). The majority of species are terrestrial (e.g., Clelia plumbea , Oxyrhopus clathratus and Pseudoboa coronata ). However, the genera Siphlophis and Drepanoides are composed of semi-arboreal species and the genus Rodriguesophis seems to be composed of fossorial species.

Considering the period of activity, we were able to gather information for 30 species (63%). Most species seem to be active during the night (e.g., Drepanoides anomalus and Oxyrhopus formosus ), but there are also diurnal species (e.g., Pseudoboa haasi ) and species that are found active both during the day and night (e.g., Oxyrhopus giubei and Siphlophis pulcher ).

We gathered dietary information for 33 species (70%). Most pseudoboines seem to be specialized in some sort of prey (one item corresponds to at least 70% of the diet, cf. Martins & Oliveira, 1998). Lizards are the most commonly consumed prey, found in the diet of 29 species (except for Clelia langeri , Pseudoboa martinsi and Rhachidelus brazili ), followed by small mammals (consumed by 20 species) and snakes (consumed by 18 species).

The mean fecundity ranged from two ( Rodriguesophis iglesiasi ) to 29 eggs ( Clelia plumbea ). Species of the genus Clelia are the most fecund (mean clutch size = 10.7), followed by those in the genus Mussurana , Oxyrhopus and Boiruna (mean clutch size = 9.8, 9.6 and 8.6, respectively). On the other hand, the least fecund genus is Drepanoides (mean litter size = 2.3), followed by Rodriguesophis , Phimophis and Rhachidelus (mean litter size = 2, 4.8 and 4.5, respectively).