Erythrolamprus ornatus

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]

Saint Lucia racer
Scientific classification
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
    — Schwartz & Henderson, 1991
  • Erythrolamprus ornatus
    — Grazziotin et al., 2012

Geographic range

E. ornatus is endemic to Saint Lucia,[5] an island nation in the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea.

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).[6] Its coloration is variable. Some individuals have a broad brown vertebral stripe. In others, the brown stripe is interrupted by alternating yellow spots.[6]

Behavior

E. ornatus is probably diurnal.[6]

Diet

E. ornatus preys on lizards.[6]

Reproduction

E. 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.[7][8]

References
  1. 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. ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
  3. Species Erythrolamprus ornatus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  4. https://www.fauna-flora.org/species/saint-lucia-racer
  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. 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).
  7. "Snake Returns from Extinction". Discovery News. July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  8. Victor, Jeannette (14 March 2017). "Facts about St. Lucian snakes including the rarest in the world". St Lucia News Online. Retrieved 29 August 2019.

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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