A Record Size for Drymarchon corais melanurus

Author(s): William E. Duellman

Source: Copeia, Vol. 1960, No. 4 (Dec. 30, 1960), pp. 367-368
Published by: American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH)
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1439778
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 HERPETOLOGICAL NOTES 367

TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF BODY MEASUREMENTS AND MARKINGS OF A LITTER OF Crotalus horridus horridus BORN IN CAPTIVITY

Males (6)* Females (6)

Characteristics Adult (1)
Range Mean Range Mean

Weight, gms. 14.7-17.6 16.2 12.3-15.0 14.1 568.5

Total length, mm. 296-230 311.8 289-301.5 295.6 1170.0

Tail length, mm. vent to rattle 23-25 24.6 18.5-20 19.6 62.0
Size of button, mm.
length 5.6-6 6 5.5-6 5.8 11 rattles
width 5-5.6 5.2 5 5
Size of head, mm.
length 19.2-20.5 20 19-20 19.8 45
width 12.5-14.1 13 12-13.5 12.6 35

Distance from post. end of umbilicus to 21-24 22.2 17.5-24 19.6

vent, mm.
Length of fangs, mm.
right 2.9-3.8 3.4 2.6-3.6 3.1 7.5
left 2.8-3.5 3.1 2.8-3.6 3.1 7.8

No. blotches on sides (may be part of

bands from dorsum)
right 20-24 22 21-24 23 spotting no longer
left 20-23 22 21-24 23 visible

No. complete bands 14-20 16 9-16 13

No. dorsal blotches 1-5 3 4-9 6

* Individual dead at birth not included in weights and measurements.

TABLE 2. SUMMARY OF SCUTELLATION OF A LITTER OF Crotalus horridus horridus BORN IN CAPTIVITY

Males Females
Characteristics Adult
Range Mean Range Mean

Dorsal scale row formula 25-27, 23-25, 19 25.6-23.7-19 25-27, 23-27, 19 25.5-23.5-19 25-23-19
No. ventral scales 162-164 162.7 165-163 167.3 168
Ventral scales ant. to umbilicus 143-145 144 144-152 147.8 149
Ventrals encompassed by umbili- 4-5 4.2 4-5 4.8 4
cal scar

Ventrals posterior to umbilical 14-16 14.8 12-17 14.8 15

scar

No. divided caudals (additional 3+1-8 4.3 3+1-4+2 3.6 2

no. just post. to vent)
No. subcaudals 23-24 23.6 17-20 19 20
No supralabials
right 12-15 13.3 12-14 13.2 13
left 11-15 13.3 13-15 13.5 15
No. infralabials
right 14-16 15.2 13-16 14.8 14
left 16-17 16.2 14-17 15.2 15
No. oculars

right 2 2 2-3 2 2
left 2 2 2-3 2 2
No. postoculars
right 2 2 2 2 2
left 2 2 2 2 2
No. loreals*
right 3-4 3.7 2-4 3.3 3
left 3-4 3.2 3-4 3.3 3
No. suboculars

right 3-4 3.5 3 3

left 3-4 3.5 3-4 3

* Includes one very small post-supraloreal scale.

ing in capturing the snake.-MARGARET M. STEW- A RECORD SIZE FOR DRYMARCHON

ART, GARY E. LARSON, AND THOMAS H. MATTHEWS, CPRAIS MELANURUS.-It is generally con-
Biology Department, State University of N. Y., ceded that snakes of the genus Drymarchon are
College of Education at Albany. the largest members of the Colubridae in the

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368 COPEIA, 1960, NO. 4
New World. Amaral (1929, Mem. Inst. Butantan,
4:325) recorded a female of Drymarchon corais
melanurus from Colombia having a head-body
length of 2410 mm. and a tail length of 405 mm.,
giving the specimen a total length of 2815 mm.
Beebe (1946, Zoologica, 31:27) recorded a speci-
men of Drymarchon corais corais from Caripito,
Venezuela, having a total length of 2540 mm. and
a weight of eight pounds. Conant (1958, A Field
Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians, p. 153) gave
the maximum length of Drymarchon corais cou-
peri as 1031/2 inches (= 2628 mm.).
On March 16, 1960, I collected a male of
Drymarchon corais melanurus in dense rain-
forest approximately 15 kilometers northwest of
Chinaja, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. The specimen
(KU 57001) has a head-body length of 2450 mm.
and a total length of 2950 mm. (measurements
taken before preservation). This specimen is 135
mm. longer than the female recorded by Amaral
(supra cit.).
Insofar as I know, this is the largest recorded
size for the genus and is the largest known speci-
men of a colubrid snake from the New World.
In the Americas this size is approached by mem-
bers of three unrelated genera. Dixon (1952,
Copeia, 3:193) recorded a female Pituophis mel-
anoleucus sayi from Brown County, Texas, hav-
ing a total length of nine feet (= 2745 mm.);
Beebe (1946, Zoologica, 31:21) recorded a speci-
men of Chironius carinatus from Kartabo, British
Guiana, having a total length of 2850 mm. I col-
lected a Spilotes pullatus mexicanus at Chinaja,
Guatemala, having a total length of 2618 mm.
In the Old World two related genera of colubrids
attain greater lengths. Tweedie (1954, Snakes of
Malaya, p. 43) stated that Zaocys carinatus at-
tains a length of more than twelve feet (= 3660
mm.). This species is rivaled in size by Ptyas
mucosus, of which Wall (1921, Snakes of Ceylon,
p. 183) recorded an individual having a total
length of 3583 mm.-WILLIAM E. DUELLMAN,
Museum of Natural History, University of Kan-
sas, Lawrence.
AN UNUSUALLY LARGE AGGREGATION
OF LEPTOTYPHLOPS.-The blind snake Lep-
totyphlops dulcis dissectus (Cope) is a common
member of prairie communities in the vicinity of
Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma. However,
its moisture requirements and burrowing habits
make it difficult to collect during the dry months
of the summer season. These snakes may be se-
cured with regularity only in the spring when
the earth under surface rocks is sufficiently
moist to permit them to live at the surface level.
Blind snakes are usually taken singly, but groups
of two to five are occasionally found. There seems
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to be no record of larger aggregations such as
the one discovered by the author on May 9, 1959
at the north edge of Stillwater. While making a
collection of amphibians and reptiles, a sand-
stone slab, measuring approximately 12 by 14 by
2 inches, was lifted revealing a mass of blind
snakes. The terrain at the collection site is hilly
and the vegetation is typical of a tall grass
prairie. The slab under which the snakes were
found was resting on a bed of soft clay about
four feet below the brow of a hill 20 feet high.
As the snakes were uncovered, they appeared to
be in a tangled mass about six inches in diameter.
When the light struck them they dispersed with
amazing speed and doubtless several escaped into
nearby holes despite the efforts of the collector.
A total of 13 specimens were secured.
The eight males and five females range from
125 to 226 mm. in total length and the anterior
supralabials are divided in all specimens.
It is difficult to explain this aggregational be-
havior in Leptotyphlops dulcis. Undoubtedly the
moisture conditions contributed to the surface
location of the mass of snakes. Conditions were
optimum for blind snake collecting during the
second week of May, 1959, and three additional
specimens were taken on May 10 and ten on May
15. None of these 13 specimens were entwined
although two were found under a single rock on
three occasions. Since the collecting of Lepto-
typhlops dulcis is restricted to a short period of
each year, aggregation could be a regular activity
of this species but usually performed when the
snakes are not readily accessible to collectors.
It is possible that the blind snakes were
drowned out of the deeper crevices and holes in
the soil by the inundating rains that fell during
the week preceding the captures.
Aggregations are associated with breeding be-
havior in some colubrid snakes and this may be
the explanation for such behavior in Lepto-
typhlops. The natural history of blind snakes is
so poorly known that additional evidence would
be required to substantiate this hypothesis.
This is contribution number 315 from the De-
partment of Zoology and the Research Founda-
tion of Oklahoma State University.-CLARENCE J.
McCoY, JR. Department of Zoology, Oklahoma
State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma
ON THE UNIQUE SOUND PRODUCTION
OF THE SURINAM TOAD, PIPA PIPA.-The
sound producing apparatus of the male Surinam
toad, Pipa pipa, differs from that of all other
frogs. It consists essentially of two bony arytenoid
elements suspended within a bony laryngeal box
that is formed from the cricoid and thyrohyal
elements. The bronchi open into the posterior