Predation on Murid Rodents by the Giant Trope, Tropidophis melanurus (Squamata: Tropidophiidae), with Comments on Predation of Mammals by Snakes of the Genus Tropidophis

Abstract

A review on mammal predation by snakes of the genus Tropidophis, with new records of predation on murid rodents by T. melanurus

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REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 28(3): 516–519 • DEC 2021
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURE ARTICLES
Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin:
On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190
The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada:
A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198
RESEARCH ARTICLES
The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204
The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida
.............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212
CONSERVATION ALERT
World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220
More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223
The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225
HUSBANDRY
Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226
PROFILE
Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234
COMMENTARY
The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238
BOOK REVIEW
Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox,
R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243
CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245
NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247
NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248
EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251
FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252
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REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY
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Mammals rarely have been reported in the diets of snakes
in the genus Tropidophis (Tropidophiidae) (for reviews
see Henderson and Powell 2009; Rodríguez-Cabrera et al.
2020). This might be largely attributable to the small size of
most species (i.e., <600 mm SVL; Schwartz and Henderson
1991; Hedges 2002; Rodríguez-González 2020). After
examining nearly a hundred prey items from eleven species
of Tropidophis, Greene (1983) concluded that most were
dietary specialists with diets based largely on frogs and liz-
ards. He considered such prey items to have low ingestion
Predation on Murid Rodents by the
Giant Trope, Tropidophis melanurus
(Squamata: Tropidophiidae),
with Comments on Predation of Mammals
by Snakes of the Genus Tropidophis
Tomás M. Rodríguez-Cabrera1, Ernesto Morell Savall2, Alejandro M. Rodríguez-González3, Alejandro Hernández Gómez4,
and Javier Torres5
1Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, La Habana 11900, Cuba, and Sociedad Cubana de Zoología, Cuba (tomasmichel.rodriguez@gmail.com [corresponding author])
2Reparto Virginia, Santa Clara, Villa Clara 50100, Cuba (ernestomorell68@nauta.cu)
3Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de las Villas, Santa Clara, Villa Clara 50100, Cuba (rodriguez.alejandromichel@gmail.com)
4Calle 202, #28109a, Reparto Consuelo, Boyeros, La Habana 10800, Cuba (hawk230486@gmail.com)
5Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA (javiertorres@ku.edu)
Fig. 1. An adult female Giant Trope (Tropidophis melanurus) when first encountered near El Nicho, Cumanayagua Municipality, Cienfuegos Province,
Cuba (upper left), and regurgitating a House Mouse (Mus musculus) and the remains of a second rodent (upper right and below). Photographs © T.M.
Rodríguez-Cabrera.

RODRÍGUEZ-CABRERA ET AL. REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 28(3): 516–519 • DEC 2021
517
ratios (i.e., relationship between prey diameter and the snake’s
head diameter). The exceptionally large Giant Trope (T. mel-
anurus) appears to be the only species capable of effectively
consuming prey items with high ingestion ratios (Greene
1983; Schwartz and Henderson 1991; Rodríguez-Cabrera
et al. 2017). Greene (1983) listed two rodents among 26
items (7.7%) found in museum specimens of T. melanurus.
Schwartz and Henderson (1991) also mentioned “rodents
(Mus)” in the diet of this species, but did not specify quantity.
Those are the only two literature references of mammals in
the diet of T. melanurus. However, predation on mammals is
more common than previously thought. Herein we report six
new cases of predation by T. melanurus on introduced murid
rodents in central Cuba.
In all cases, we noticed a stomach bulge when we first
saw the snakes. To avoid killing the animals, we forced regur-
gitation by palpation of the abdomen in order to obtain the
dietary information (Luiselli and Amori 2016). We identified
the rodents to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Three spe-
cies of murid rodents (House Mouse, Mus musculus; Black
Rat, Rattus ratus; and Brown Rat, Rattus norvegicus) are estab-
lished in Cuba (Borroto-Páez 2011). Nevertheless, due to
an advanced state of digestion, we were unable to identify
some prey items beyond family level. We measured snout-
vent length (SVL) or total length of the snakes to the nearest
centimeter or, in a few cases, visually estimated total length.
Datum for all coordinates is WGS 84.
In 1982, we found a large female (ca. 800 mm total
length) under a pile of dry grass at Reparto Virginia, Santa
Clara Municipality, Villa Clara Province (22.405739,
-79.986341; elev. 120 m asl). Forced regurgitation revealed
a partially digested House Mouse.
On 12 June 2008, we found an individual (ca. 600 mm
total length) under a rock in a secondary grassland about 1
km west of Loma la Vigía, Placetas Municipality, Villa Clara
Province (22.332506, -79.677465; elev. 200 m asl). Forced
regurgitation revealed a partially digested House Mouse.
In 2013, we found an adult male (650 mm total length)
under a feeder in a dovecote within the facilities of Empresa
Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna, Santa Clara
Municipality, Villa Clara Province (22.402541, -79.919374;
elev. 105 m asl). Forced regurgitation revealed a partially
digested House Mouse.
At 0950 h on 30 October 2014, we found an adult female
(ca. 600 mm SVL) (Fig. 1) under a rock in secondary grass-
land by a road near El Nicho, Cumanayagua Municipality,
Cienfuegos Province (22.032016, -80.112710; elev. 460 m
asl). Forced regurgitation revealed a House Mouse (ca. 80
mm body length) and fragments of a second rodent in a very
advanced state of digestion. At least the identified prey item
was swallowed head-first.
At 2200 h on 17 October 2016, we found an adult
male (550 mm SVL) active at night on the ground in the
Cienfuegos Botanical Garden, Cienfuegos Municipality,
Cienfuegos Province (22.125151, -80.323549; elev. 50 m
asl). Forced regurgitation revealed a partially digested House
Mouse and a Cuban Treefrog, Osteopilus septentrionalis (39
mm SVL), the latter with no signs of digestion and in a more
anterior position (Fig. 2), suggesting that it was taken later.
Both prey items were ingested head-first.
At 1030 h on 11 April 2021, we found an adult female
(ca. 800 mm total length) under a rock in a secondary grass-
land about 1 km north of the Palmarito Dam, Ranchuelo
Municipality, Villa Clara Province (22.367522, -80.038004;
elev. 110 m asl). Forced regurgitation revealed a Black Rat
with only the head partially digested (Fig. 3).
The Giant Trope is a Cuban endemic that is widely dis-
tributed across the archipelago in diverse habitats that include
urban environments (Henderson and Powell 2009; Rodríguez
Schettino et al. 2013; Rodríguez-Cabrera and Hernández
Gómez 2021). This is the only species of Tropidophis that
can attain SVLs >1,000 mm and body mass in excess of 800
g (Schwartz and Henderson 1991; Tolson and Henderson
1993; Rodríguez-Cabrera et al. 2021). Apparently, a mini-
mum size of about 500 mm SVL is necessary for snakes of the
genus Tropidophis to start consuming mammals. However,
in addition to T. melanurus, only the Hispaniolan Trope (T.
haetianus) has been reported to feed on rodents in nature
(Schwartz and Henderson 1991). Although no reports exist,
we expect that other West Indian tropes with a similar body
Fig. 2. A partially digested House Mouse (Mus musculus) and a Cuban
Treefrog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) regurgitated by an adult male Giant
Trope (Tropidophis melanurus) from the Cienfuegos Botanical Garden,
Cienfuegos Municipality, Cienfuegos Province, Cuba. Photograph ©
T.M. Rodríguez-Cabrera.
Fig. 3. A partially digested Black Rat (Rattus rattus) regurgitated by an
adult female Giant Trope (Tropidophis melanurus) from near the Palmarito
Dam, Ranchuelo Municipality, Villa Clara Province, Cuba. Photograph ©
E. Morell Savall.

RODRÍGUEZ-CABRERA ET AL. REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 28(3): 516–519 • DEC 2021
518
plan as that of T. melanurus (see Hedges 2002) and with SVLs
around 500 mm might also sporadically include small mam-
mals in their diets. This size can be attained by the Navassa
Trope (T. bucculentus), which presumably is extinct; the
Grand Cayman Trope (T. caymanensis); the Little Cayman
Trope (T. parkeri); the Cayman Brac Trope (T. schwartzi);
and the Jamaican Eyespotted Trope (T. stejnegeri) (see
Henderson and Powell 2009 for a review). Although some
species of the semi-arboreal ecotype (e.g., the Broad-banded
Trope, T. feicki, and the Gracile Banded Trope, T. wrighti)
can approach 500 mm SVL, they are much more slender than
representatives of the T. melanurus species group (for reviews
see Hedges 2002; Henderson and Powell 2009; Rodríguez-
Cabrera et al. 2020; Rodríguez-González 2020) and appear
not to consume rodents due to body plan and specialization
for predation on anoles. Based on observations in captivity,
adult T. melanurus readily accept rodents and even small lago-
morphs (Fig. 4), whereas species of the semi-arboreal ecotype
never do (pers. obs.). Giant Tropes begin to accept pinkies
shortly after reaching 300 mm SVL (pers. obs.), which sug-
gests that this species might be conditioned to consume this
kind of prey before reaching adult size.
The Spotted Brown Trope (T. pardalis), a small, stout,
ground-dwelling species (females to 287 mm SVL, males
to 284 mm SVL; Henderson and Powell 2009), apparently
feeds on House Mice in captivity (Polo and Arango 2011).
Nonetheless, we believe that controlled conditions in captiv-
ity drove such a small snake to feed on endothermic, relatively
large prey (probably pinkies).
Murid rodents are not native in Cuba (e.g., Silva et al.
2007). Therefore, the propensity of T. melanurus to consume
small non-volant mammals could be explained by co-evolution
with mammalian prey that is similar in body size and general
habits to the introduced murids. In the Greater Antillean region,
such mammalian prey presumably included “island shrews” of
the genus Nesophontes (Eulipotyphla: Nesophontidae), small,
terrestrial, and most likely nocturnal semi-burrowers (e.g.,
Silva et al. 2007; Borroto-Páez 2011; Orihuela 2014; Buckley
et al. 2020; Orihuela et al. 2020), and small “spiny rats” of the
genus Boromys (Rodentia: Echimyidae) (e.g., Silva et al. 2007;
Arredondo Antúnez 2011; Borroto-Páez 2011). Both groups
included species no larger than a Black Rat (e.g., Silva et al.
2007; Arredondo Antúnez 2011; Borroto-Páez 2011). These
mammals are common in the subfossil record of the region
Fig. 4. Captive adult Giant Tropes (Tropidophis melanurus) exceeding 600 mm SVL that were regularly fed on lab and free-ranging House Mice (Mus
musculus) (above and lower left) and suckling European Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) (lower right). Photographs © A. Hernández Gómez (upper left), J.
Torres (upper right), and A.M. Rodríguez-González (below).

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and are thought to have survived until close to or even after
the first European arrival in the region in 1492 (MacPhee et
al. 1999; Díaz-Franco 2004; Silva et al. 2007; Cooke et al.
2017; Orihuela et al. 2020). For predators of small, noctur-
nal, non-volant mammals, murids presumably serve as replace-
ments for Nesophontes and Boromys, as indicated by abundant
records from subfossil owl-pellets (for reviews see MacPhee et
al. 1999; Díaz-Franco 2004; Silva et al. 2007; Borroto-Páez
2011; Cooke et al. 2017; Orihuela et al. 2020).
Acknowledgements
We thank Julio León and Yosvani Vicet for assistance in the
field, Rafael Borroto for help with the identification of prey
items, and the administration and workers of the Cienfuegos
Botanical Garden for logistical support and accommodations.
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