Content uploaded by Mark O'Shea
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Mark O'Shea on Jan 27, 2014
Content may be subject to copyright.
~p
.
HERPETOCULTURE
609
SQUAMATA
-SNAKES
.1(:JaS
'f
flO{)
()i
/'
'''~
'
rOU
f
f1i1yl
o
r\
Cant
i
l),
LONGEVTTY.
t\1l
auult nlale
AgkiSlr
o
don
rnyloliwa
~
confiscated
by
UK
wildlife au-
thorities
in
february
1995 and
donated
to
the collection
at
West
Midlanu Safari Park (WMSP). Worcestershire, England.
Agkislro-
don
Inylori
exhibits
both
sexua l and
ontogenetic
dichromatism
(Burchfie
ld
19B2.
J.
Herpetol.
16[41:376-282)
which clearly
id
en-
tified thi s s
pecimen
as an
adult
rnale
upon
arrival. After
suitable
quarantine
,
it
was
introduced
to
a fem a
le
of
the
same
species
that had
been
in the collection since 1994. After
mating
in
April
1996 without is
sue
, the pair
mated
again on 14 March 1997,
and
were then s
eparated.
The female ga
ve
birth
to
nine
neonates
af-
ter 199 days.
on
9 Scptember, the first
UK
captivc brecding
of
the speci es
(O
'
Sh
ea 1998.
The
Herptile 23111:16-19)
and
died
a
fcw
years laler, but the male re
mained
in
the off-show collection
until4
July
20]2
when
it
was
euthanized
Oil healtl\
ground
s. after
17
yr,
5 rno
in
captivity
at
WMSP.
l3ecause this snake wa s
an
adult when
it
arrived. and the earliest
tbe related A. iJilinea/Us (Mexican CantiJ) reaches sexual
maturity
is
at 30
months
(Peters 1979.
lntern
a
t!'
Zoo Yearbk.
19:100-101
).
a
conse
rv
ative
estimate
for this s pecimen's individual's total age
could be
19
yT,
11
mo.
The
previous longevity record for this spe-
cies
is
15
yr,
7
mo
, 13
U,
for a male
at
the
Houston
Zoo,
Houston
,
Tc
xas,
USA
(Snider and Buwler 1992. Longevity of l1eptiles
and
Amphibians in North American Collections.
SSAlI
H('rpeto!. Cire.
21:
1-40
). while a lifes
pan
of 24
yr
, 4
mo
,
19
d
is
documented
for
a A. iJilinearus at [hc Instituto Historia Natural. Chiap a
s,
Mexico
(iNd
). The
North
American
membcr
s of the genus i1chieve simi-
lar iongevities
in
captivity
(A.
conlortrix
29
yr,
10
mo:
A.
pi
sciL'orus
24
yr, G mo: Snider
and
80wl('r, op. cif.) .
MARK O'SHEA (e-mail: mark
.os
h
e,1(
iV
wm
sp.
co.uk). STEVE SLATER (e-
mail:
steve
.
slat
e
r
(~
wmsp
.co.
uk)
.
and JAMIE WOOD (e-mail: jamie.wo
od
@
wrns
p.
co.ukl. Mark O
'Sh
ea's
Reptile World. Discovery Trail,
IN
e
st
Midla
nd
Sa
fari
PMk
. Bewdle
y,
vV
orcestershire,
DYl2
1
LF
. United K
ingdom
.