Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T13:15:36.422Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Status of the West Indian snake Chironius vincenti

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

Robert W. Henderson
Affiliation:
Section of Vertebrate Zoology, Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 W Wells St, Milwaukee, WI 53233–1478, USA.
Gary T. Haas
Affiliation:
PO Box 5800, Missoula, MT 59806–5800, USA.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The snake Chironius vincenti (Colubridae) is endemic to the West Indian island of St Vincent, and for many years herpetologists considered the species to be extinct. Recent field work has indicated that it still survives but that it is restricted to primary and secondary rain forest (at elevations between 275 and 600 m) primarily on the leeward side of the island and that it probably occurs at low population densities. The range of C. vincenti appears to overlap widely with that of the endangered St Vincent parrot (Amazona guildingii) and the snake will gain significant, direct benefits front the protection afforded the parrot.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 1993

References

Beard, J. S. 1949. Natural Vegetation of the Windward and Leeward Islands. Oxford Forestry Memoirs 21.Google Scholar
Butler, P. J. 1988. Saint Vincent Parrot Amazona guildingii: The Road to Recovery. Forestry Div., St. Vincent and the Grenadines and RARE Center for tropical bird conservation. 228 pp.Google Scholar
Corke, D. 1992. The status and conservation needs of the terrestrial herpetofauna of the Windward Islands (West Indies). Biol. Conserv. 62, 4748.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodd, C. K. Jr., 1987. Status, conservation and management. In Snakes: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (eds Seigel, R. A., Collins, J. T., and Novak, S. S.), pp. 478513. MacMillan Co., New York.Google Scholar
Dodd, C. K. Jr., In press. Strategies for snake conservation. In Snakes: Ecology and Behavior (eds Seigel, R. A. and Collins, J. T.). McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Duellman, W. E. 1990. Herpetofaunas in neotropical rainforests: comparative composition, history, and resource use. In Four Neotropical Rainforests (ed. Gentry, A. H.), pp. 455505. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.Google Scholar
Henderson, R. W. 1992. Consequences of predator introductions and habitat destruction on amphibians and reptiles in the post-Columbus West Indies. Carib. J. Sci. 28, 110.Google Scholar
Henderson, R. W., Daudin, J., Haas, G. T., AND McCarthy, T. J. 1992. Significant distribution records for some amphibians and reptiles in the Lesser Antilles. Carib. J. Sci. 28, 101103.Google Scholar
Henderson, R. W., Sajdak, R. A., and Henderson, R. M. 1988. The rediscovery of the West Indian colubrid snake Chironius vincenti. Amphibia-Reptilia, 9, 415416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sajdak, R. A., AND Henderson, R. W. 1991. Status of West Indian racers in the Lesser Antilles. Oryx, 25, 3338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, A. and Henderson, R. W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions and Natural History. Univ. Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida.Google Scholar
Wiest, J. A. Jr., 1978. Revision of the neotropical snake genus Chironius Fitzinger (Serpentes: Colubridae). PhD. thesis, Texas A & M University.Google Scholar