Herpetology Notes, volume 10: 71-73 (2017) (published online on 17 February 2017)

Death of Oxyrhopus petolarius (Linnaeus, 1758) (Serpentes:

Dipsadidae) after an unsuccessful predation event on Tropidurus
torquatus (Wied-Neuwied, 1820) (Sauria: Tropiduridae)

Leildo Machado Carilo Filho1,*, Daniel Grundmann Nascimento2 and Antônio Jorge Suzart Argôlo3

Death by suffocation in snakes resulting from
predation episodes have been recorded during natural
encounters and laboratory experiments (Godley, 1980;
Sazima & Martins, 1990). 0ost unsuccessful predation
events don’t lead to the death of the predator 
(see Fong
et al, 2013; Vargas-Salinas & Aponte-Gutierrez, 2013).
Such events seem to occur more frequently with young
snakes, perhaps due to unavailability of appropriate size
prey, which may result in a misevaluation of their own
ingestion capacity (Godley, 1980; Hailey & Davies,
1986a,b; Sazima & Martins, 1990; Cavalcanti et al,
2012; Caramaschi & Niemeyer, 2012; Menezes et al,
2013; Nogueira et al, 2013).
The capture and consumption of large prey is possible
in snakes due to a series of morphological adaptations,
such as cranial kinesis and tissue elasticity (Ditmars,
1912; Gans, 1961; Arnold, 1983; Savitzky, 1983; Lee et
al, 1999). By eating large prey snakes can satiate their
metabolic demands for a long period (Godley, 1980;
Sazima & Martins, 1990).
Oxyrhopus petolarius is a terrestrial Pseudoboini
snake that eventually forages upon the vegetation and
reaches the maximal length of 1,100 mm (Amaral, 1978;
Gaiarsa et al, 2013). The species is considered generalist
and preys on small mammals, lizards, birds, bird eggs
and amphibians (Alencar et al, 2013). Tropidurus
torquatus has a widespread distribution, occurring in
aOarge variety of phytophysiognomies and vegetation
typologies (see De Carvalho et al, 2013), feeding on
arthropods, fruits and flowers (Teixeira & Giovanelli,
1999; Pietczak et al, 2013).
Here we present one more fatal gagging case involving
Oxyrhopus petolarius (Linnaeus, 1758). Prey and
predator snout-vent length (SVL) and tail length (TL)
were measured with a flexible ruler to the nearest 1 mm.
A juvenile (according to Alves & Argôlo, 2011) male
(SVL 497 mm, TL 145 mm) was found in the property
of the Sede Regional da Comissão Executiva do Plano
da Lavoura Cacaueira (CEPLAC), municipality of
Ilhéus, southern Bahia, Brazil. The specimen was found
still alive trying to ingest a Tropidurus torquatus (Wied-
Neuwied, 1820) adult male (SVL 94 mm, TL 157 mm).

1
Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de
Herpetologia e Paleontologia, Universidade Estadual de
Santa Cruz, 45662-900, Ilhéus, Bahia.
2
Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de
Herpetologia e Paleontologia, Universidade Estadual de
Santa Cruz, 45662-900, Ilhéus, Bahia.
E-mail: danielgrundmann1@gmail.com
3
Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de
Herpetologia e Paleontologia, Universidade Estadual de
Santa Cruz, 45662-900, Ilhéus, Bahia.
E-mail: ajargolo@gmail.com Figure 2. Tissue laceration at the left side of Oxyrhopus
* Corresponding author e-mail: Oeildocarilo@gmail.com petolarius in the first body portion. Photo by Marcelo Sena.
72
Figure 1. Partially ingested specimen of Tropidurus torquatus. Photo by Marcelo Sena.
The snake was collected for observation in captivity and
died with the lizard still in its mouth. Both specimens
were deposited at the Coleção Zoológica Gregório
Bondar (CZGB 4907), at the Universidade Estadual de
Santa Cruz, municipality of Ilhéus, Bahia.
At the moment of death, the snake had ingested the
prey in the anteroposterior direction until its pelvic girdle
(Figure 1). The hind limbs and the tail of the lizard were
not swallowed. The snake’s tegument presented tissue
lesions over the region that covered the swallowed
portion of the prey (Figure 2).
Because no influence of predators or humans was
detected in the death of the Oxyrhopus petolarius
specimen, we suppose that the snake died by mechanical
choking. The ingestion of very large prey by juvenile
snakes has been documented and is often related
with cases of asphyxia during the deglutition process
(Sazima & Martins, 1990; Nogueira et al, 2013). We
observed small slits in the tissue of the tegument of the
Leildo Machado Carilo Filho et al.
dead snake. It is possible that, with the extended skin,
the snake and its contents suffered some damage along
the maintenance time during the organization of the
collection. Nonetheless, Nogueira et al. (2013) reported
tissue injuries resulting from an unsuccessful predation
event for an Oxyrhopus petolarius specimen. Thus,
we can´t discard the possibility that the same situation
might have happened with the O. petolarius specimen
here referred.
Acknowledgments. Authors are grateful to Antônio F. Carvalho
and Mirco Solé for the English review, to Fátima Alves for her
comments on Oxyrhopus petolarius biology and to Elaine Ferreira
Macêdo for identifying the Tropidurus specimen. We also thank
Marcelo Sena and Alvaro Coelho B. de Alencar for photographies
and its editions respectively, and to reviewers for provided helpful
suggestions. LMCF and DGN are grateful to FAPESB for the
scientific initiation scholarship grant of.
Death of Oxyrhopus petolarius after an unsuccessful predation event 73

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Accepted by Clarissa Canedo