Giant dwarfs: Very large giant tropes Tropidophis melanurus (Squamata: Tropidophiidae), and new maximum size records for the species

Abstract

The Giant Trope (Tropidophis melanurus) is by far the largest and stoutest species in the family, it can reach almost double the size of most other relatively large congeners. Individuals around one meter SVL have been reported. Herein we report several very large individuals of both sexes, including new size records.

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REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 28(3): 404–410 • DEC 2021
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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS
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
Front Cover. Shannon Plummer.
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ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos
accullabo.
Back Cover. Michael Kern
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IRCF
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY
Copyright is held by the authors. Articles in R&A are made available under a
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Snakes of the family Tropidophiidae, sometimes-called
dwarf boas, comprise two genera: Tropidophis and
Trachyboa (Wilcox et al. 2002). All but five of the 33 cur-
rently recognized species of Tropidophis occur in the
West Indies (Hedges 2002; Henderson and Powell 2009;
Rodríguez Schettino et al. 2013; Díaz and Cádiz 2020; Uetz
et al. 2021). However, molecular studies suggest that recogni-
tion of Trachyboa renders Tropidophis paraphyletic, given that
the South American clade is sister to Trachyboa instead of the
West Indian clade (Franco Curcio et al. 2012; Reynolds et al.
2014, 2018).
Cuba, with 17 endemic species, harbors more than
60% of all species in the West Indian clade (Hedges 2002;
Henderson and Powell 2009; Rodríguez Schettino et al.
2013; Díaz and Cádiz 2020; Uetz et al. 2021). Dwarf boas
are viviparous, nocturnally active constrictors that feed mostly
on ectotherms such as lizards and frogs, although the larger
species occasionally consume small endotherms (for reviews
see Henderson and Powell 2009; Rodríguez-Cabrera et al.
2017, 2020a, 2020b, 2021). As the common name implies,
these are relatively small snakes, with SVLs of 184–957 mm,
although most species do not exceed 550 mm SVL (for
reviews see Hedges 2002; Henderson and Powell 2009).
The Giant Trope (Tropidophis melanurus), which is
widely distributed across the Cuban Archipelago at elevations
from sea level to 1,293 m (e.g., Henderson and Powell 2009;
Rodríguez Schettino et al. 2010, 2013), is by far the largest
and stoutest species in the family (Schwartz and Henderson
1991; Tolson and Henderson 1993; Hedges 2002). Large
sizes reported in the literature include a female with SVL =
950 mm (Grant 1957), a maximum total length of 1,057 mm
in an individual of unreported sex (Schwartz and Henderson
1991), and maximum SVLs of 957 mm for females and of
770 mm for males (Hedges 2002). Earlier, however, Alayo
(1951) mentioned an individual exceeding four feet (>1,220
mm) in total length from Santiago de Cuba Province. Herein
we report several very large individuals of both sexes, includ-
ing new size records.
Voucher specimens, when available, were deposited in the
zoological collection of the Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática
(CZACC), La Habana, Cuba. Other snakes could not be pre-
served because they escaped, died and deteriorated too much
for preservation, or were part of ongoing ecological surveys.
We took measurements to the nearest millimeter and body
mass to the nearest gram. Not all snakes could be measured
when first collected, and only the final size was recorded. In
some instances, only the total length is available. Some snakes
were kept in captivity after collection and were fed weekly or
bimonthly, mostly on native species such as Cuban Treefrogs
(Osteopilus septentrionalis), lizards (Anolis spp., Leiocephalus
cubensis, Pholidoscelis auberi), Northern Mockingbird chicks
(Mimus polyglottos), but also non-native pinky, fuzzy, and
adult murid rodents (Mus musculus and Rattus rattus) and
even suckling rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Meat slices (fish,
chicken, pork, and beef) were readily accepted after some
time in captivity, especially if they were first smeared with
scents of natural prey, but the latter was not always necessary
for the snake to accept that kind of food. Water was provided
ad libitum in containers large enough to accommodate entire
snakes. Datum for all coordinates is WGS 84.
Giant Dwarfs: Very Large Giant Tropes,
Tropidophis melanurus
(Squamata: Tropidophiidae), and
New Maximum Size Records for the Species
Tomás M. Rodríguez-Cabrera1, Ernesto Morell Savall2, Ramses Alonso Navarro3, John Q. Pigott4,
Alejandro M. Rodríguez-González5, and Javier Torres6
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)
3Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana 10400, Cuba (joseramses463@gmail.com)
4Welland, Ontario L3B 5C3, Canada (jqpigott@gmail.com)
5Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de las Villas, Santa Clara, Villa Clara 50100, Cuba (rodriguez.alejandromichel@gmail.com)
6Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA (javiertorres@ku.edu)

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In summer 1989, R. Teruel (pers. comm., 11.IX.2021)
found a large T. melanurus (Table 1, No. 1; 1,100 mm total
length, not sexed) under a large rock in a shallow mountain
stream at El Chorrito, on the road to La Gran Piedra (km
7.5), Santiago de Cuba Municipality, Santiago de Cuba
Province (20.011340, -75.672270; elev. 530 m asl). It was
measured and released at the site of capture. This individual
exceeded by 43 mm the previous total length record for the
species (i.e., 1,057 mm; Schwartz and Henderson 1991).
In the early 2000s, we found an adult female T. mel-
anurus (Table 1, No. 2: 680 mm total length [tail tip miss-
ing], 634 mm SVL; CZACC 13400) at Cojímar, La Habana
del Este Municipality, La Habana Province (23.152680,
-82.297963; elev. 5 m asl). We kept it in captivity until
2007, when it died of unknown causes. The preserved speci-
men (Fig. 1) measured 1,037 mm total length, and 967 mm
SVL, slightly exceeding (10 mm) the previous SVL record
for females (957 mm; Hedges 2002) and almost matching
the previous total length record for the species (1,057 mm;
Schwartz and Henderson 1991).
In July 2007, we found an adult female (Table 1, No.
3: 1,280 mm total length) near the offices of the Empresa
Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna, Protected
Area “Sabanas de Santa Clara,” Santa Clara Municipality,
Villa Clara Province (22.404005, -79.916318; elev. 100
m asl). We kept it in captivity until 2009, when we trans-
ferred it to an exhibit in the Santa Clara Zoo, from which
it escaped. We were unable to record the total body mass of
this individual before it escaped, but it appeared slender for
a female of that length. This female is the longest individual
ever reported, exceeding by 223 mm the previous total length
record for the species (1,057 mm; Schwartz and Henderson
1991). Although we did not record SVL, given that tail length
in other large females measured by us was about 8% of total
length, we estimate a SVL of about 1,180 mm. Therefore, it
almost certainly exceeded the previous SVL record for females
(957 mm; Hedges 2002).
On 10 July 2008, we collected a gravid female (Table
1, No. 4: 900 mm total length, 830 mm SVL) under a pile
of debris exposed to the sun on the eastern slope of Loma
del Capiro, Santa Clara Municipality, Villa Clara Province
(22.409663, -79.943237; elev. 140 m asl). We kept it in
captivity until late 2013 when it died of unknown causes.
Measurements soon after death were 1,130 mm total length,
1,040 mm SVL, 110 mm mid-body circumference, and 33
mm head length (Fig. 2). This female exceeded by 83 mm
the previous SVL record for females (957 mm; Hedges 2002)
and by 73 mm the previous total length record for the spe-
cies (1,057 mm; Schwartz and Henderson 1991). It reached
a maximum body mass (780 g) during the summer of 2012
(over a year before its death). The total increase in length
during the 62-months in captivity was 230 mm (3.7 mm/
month). During that time, it became very tame and, after
a few weeks, it never reacted defensively (autohemorrhage,
cloacal discharge, balling), even under intense handling; this
caused excessive swelling of the musk glands, which periodi-
cally had to be drained manually.
On 23 June 2012, we found an adult female (Table 1, No.
5; CZACC 13401) at La Caoba, Santa Clara Municipality,
Villa Clara Province (22.383062, -79.834685; elev. 100 m
asl). Two large unidentified ticks were attached to a transverse
scar on the back (Fig. 3). In captivity it started to refuse food
in early 2014 and died of unknown causes on 21 May 2014
(ca. 2 years after collection). Measurements soon after death
were 1,060 mm total length, 970 mm SVL, 100 mm mid-
body circumference, 32 mm head length, and 687 g. This
Table 1. Very large Giant Tropes (Tropidophis melanurus): Total length (TL), snout-vent length (SVL), female (F), male (M), length in
excess of the previous SVL record (LEPR). A new maximum size record is in bold type.
No. Sex TL SVL Mass LEPR Voucher
1 ? 1,100 — — 43 —
2 F 1,037 967 — 10 CZACC 13400
3 F 1,280 — — 223 —
4 F 1,130 1,040 780 83 —
5 F 1,060 970 687 13 CZACC 13401
6 M 870 830 323 60 —
7 F 1,066 968 875 11 —
Fig. 1. A preserved adult female Giant Trope (Tropidophis melanu-
rus) (Table 1, No. 2; CZACC13400) from Cojímar, La Habana del
Este Municipality, La Habana Province, Cuba. Photograph © Hansel
Caballero.

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specimen slightly exceeded (13 mm) the previous SVL record
for females (957 mm; Hedges 2002) and almost matched
the previous total length record for the species (1,057 mm;
Schwartz and Henderson 1991).
At 2200 h on 5 May 2014, we found an adult male
(Table 1, No. 6) in a foraging position (motionless and with
the anterior half of the body bent in a zigzag manner) at the
base of a palm tree in the Cienfuegos Botanical Garden,
Cienfuegos Municipality, Cienfuegos Province (22.125718,
-80.323656; elev. 50 m asl). The snake measured 870 mm
total length (tail tip missing), 830 mm SVL, 75 mm mid-
body circumference, 28 mm head length, and 323 g. This
individual was in a population being studied at the botani-
cal garden (T.M. Rodríguez-Cabrera et al., unpubl. data) and
was not collected. We marked it by clipping ventral scales
(Brown and Parker 1976) and released it at the site of capture.
This was the largest male T. melanurus ever reported in the
wild, exceeding by 60 mm the previous SVL record for males
(770 mm; Hedges 2002).
At 2130 h on 20 February 2020, we found an adult
female (Table 1, No. 7: 780 mm total length and 710 mm
SVL) in a foraging position at the base of a palm tree near
Heriberto Duquesne, Remedios Municipality, Villa Clara
Province (22.387351, -79.489016; elev. 90 m asl). We kept it
in captivity and on 13 October 2021 (ca. 20 months later) it
had reached 1,066 mm total length, 968 mm SVL, and 875 g,
for a total increase in length of 286 mm (ca. 14 mm/month)
(Fig. 4). This snake slightly exceeds by 11 mm the previous
SVL record for females (957 mm; Hedges 2002) and by 9
mm the previous total length record for the species (1,057
mm; Schwartz and Henderson 1991). This also is the heaviest
individual of T. melanurus ever reported, exceeding the body
mass of female No. 4, despite its shorter length. This female
remains in captivity and appears to be healthy. If it maintains
its unusually high growth rate for an adult snake, it should
reach 1,000 mm SVL and 1,000 g as early as next year.
Exact measurements are not available for other individu-
als approaching 1,000 mm SVL, but photographs with refer-
Fig. 2. An adult female Giant Trope (Tropidophis melanurus) (Table 1, No. 4) from Loma del Capiro, Santa Clara Municipality, Villa Clara Province,
Cuba: Dorsal view (upper left); JT holding the snake in August 2013 (upper right); area posterior to the vent swollen due to an accumulation of secretions
in the musk glands (lower left); and swallowing an adult male Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei; ca. 60 mm SVL), notice the size of the snake’s head
compared with the anole (lower right). Photographs © Raimundo López-Silvero.

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ence objects (in perspective) provide estimates of the snakes’
sizes. In 1998, we collected an adult male (ca. 600 mm SVL)
about 1 km north of Campo Florido, La Habana del Este
Municipality, La Habana Province (23.131193, -82.119315;
elev. 10 m asl). We kept it in captivity for 16 years until its
death in 2014. At the time of its death, it most certainly
exceeded 1,000 mm SVL. This snake is probably the largest
male T. melanurus ever reported (Fig. 5). At about 1000 h
on 12 July 2020, we photographed an adult female about 2
km south of La Movida on the path to Yagruma, Santa Clara
Municipality, Villa Clara Province (22.388989, -79.888466;
elev. 140 m asl). It was resting under a rock in secondary
grassland. According to the reference objects in the photo,
the snake most certainly exceeded 1,000 mm SVL (Fig. 6).
Giant Tropes can reach almost double the size of most
other relatively large congeners. The seven West Indian species
that follow in size are (in decreasing order) the Navassa Trope
(T. bucculentus) from Navassa Island (female SVL to 596 mm,
male SVL to 360 mm); the Hispaniolan Trope (T. haetianus),
from Hispaniola and some satellite islands (female SVL to 552
mm, male SVL to 534 mm), and Schwartz and Henderson
(1991) listed a maximum total length of 712 mm; the Jamaican
Eyespotted Trope (T. stejnegeri) from northern Jamaica (female
SVL to 529 mm, male SVL to 395 mm); the Little Cayman
Trope (T. parkeri) from Little Cayman (female SVL to 512 mm,
male SVL to 422 mm); the Gracile Banded Trope (T. wrighti),
from central-eastern Cuba (female SVL to 336 mm, male SVL
to 488 mm); the Broad-banded Trope (T. feicki) from western
Cuba (female SVL to 474 mm, male SVL to 463 mm); and the
Grand Cayman Trope (T. caymanensis) from Grand Cayman
(female SVL to 438 mm, male SVL to 470 mm) (Schwartz
1957; Hedges 2002; Henderson and Powell 2009; Rodríguez-
González 2020). The largest of the South American species is
T. preciosus, with a maximum recorded female SVL of 440 mm
and 481 mm total length (Franco et al. 2012).
Although some of the snakes described above reached their
maximum sizes in captivity, they were found in the wild already
as large adults and were kept for only a few years, during which
most increases in length were only a few centimeters. Indeed,
some of the largest snakes recorded reached their large sizes in
nature (Table 1: Nos. 1, 3, and 6; adult female observed at La
Movida, Santa Clara Municipality, Villa Clara Province).
Fig. 3. A freshly caught adult female Giant Trope (Tropidophis melanurus) (Table 1, No. 5; CZACC13401) from La Caoba, Santa Clara Municipality, Villa
Clara Province, Cuba, with two large ticks attached to a scar on the back (left), and being held by TMRC prior to shedding (notice the opaque coloration)
in June 2013 (right). Photographs © T.M. Rodríguez-Cabrera (left) and Raimundo López-Silvero (right).

RODRÍGUEZ-CABRERA ET AL. REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 28(3): 404–410 • DEC 2021
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Unlike other regions inhabited by snakes of the genus
Tropidophis, the diversity in Cuba is high, with assemblages
composed of as many as four sympatric species (see review
in Rodríguez-Cabrera et al. 2020a). The occurrence of these
assemblages appears to reflect morphological and behavioral
differentiation that allows ecological segregation (Rodríguez-
Cabrera et al. 2020a). Based on fossil remains of T. melanurus
and a second smaller congener from a cave deposit in west-
ern Cuba, Syromyatnikova et al. (2021) found evidence for
the occurrence of Tropidophis assemblages at least since the
Pleistocene (2.59–0.01 MYA).
The Giant Trope seems to be the only representative
of the generalist Tropidophis ecotype in Cuba (Rodríguez-
Cabrera et al. 2016, 2020a). Apparently, T. melanurus occu-
pies the niche of medium-sized, nocturnally active constrictor
in Cuba. The extensive diversification of Cuban snakes in the
genus Tropidophis has been attributed to an ecological bar-
rier that prevented further colonization or in situ evolution of
smaller species in the West Indian boid genus Chilabothrus,
as happened, for instance, on the neighboring island of
Hispaniola, which harbors only one species of Tropidophis
but four species of Chilabothrus (Hedges 2002; Rodríguez-
Cabrera et al. 2016; Landestoy et al. 2021). Greene (1980)
Fig. 5. A large adult male Giant Trope (Tropidophis melanurus) (indicated
by the arrow) from near Campo Florido, La Habana del Este Municipality,
La Habana Province, Cuba, in captivity entangled in male-male combat
with a smaller male in 2010 (12 years after capture). The snake under
the piece of bark is an adult female. The enclosure measured 914 x 381
x 457 mm. This is probably the largest male T. melanurus ever reported.
Photograph © J.Q. Pigott.
Fig. 4. An adult female Giant Trope (Tropidophis melanurus) (TL = 1,066 mm, SVL = 968 mm, mass = 875 g) from near Heriberto Duquesne, Remedios
Municipality, Villa Clara Province, Cuba, in dorsal view (left) and held by AMRG (right) on 13 October 2021. This is the heaviest Giant Trope ever
reported. Photographs © A.M. Rodríguez-González (left) and L.E. Santos (right).

RODRÍGUEZ-CABRERA ET AL. REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 28(3): 404–410 • DEC 2021
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noted that the “species diversity and ecological roles of
Caribbean Tropidophis are complementary to the presence of
larger boas (Epicrates) [= Chilabothrus] and perhaps colubrids
….” The size and general body shape of T. melanurus is com-
parable to that of the Hispaniolan Desert Boa (C. fordii), a
small (for the genus; SVL to 860 mm), mostly ground-dwell-
ing species (although it will climb into shrubs) (Tolson and
Henderson 1993; Landestoy et al. 2021). A similar scenario
of convergence has been observed between the gracile semi-
arboreal species of Tropidophis in Cuba and the Hispaniolan
Vine Boas, C. gracilis and C. ampelophis (two strictly arbo-
real species), which share morphological traits largely associ-
ated with arboreality (i.e., slender and laterally compressed
bodies, long and distinctive neck, large and protruding eyes)
(for reviews see Hedges and Garrido 1992; Lillywhite and
Henderson 1993; Tolson and Henderson 1993; Hedges
2002; Pizzatto et al. 2007; Rodríguez-Cabrera et al. 2016;
Díaz and Cádiz 2020; Landestoy et al. 2021). Nonetheless,
additional morphological, ecological, and behavioral studies
of snakes in both genera are required before arriving at con-
clusions regarding ecological segregation between species.
Acknowledgements
We thank Raimundo López-Silvero, Zahily González,
Leandro E. Santos, Hansel Caballero, and Alejandro
Hernández for assistance with photographs, measurements,
and/or preservation of some specimens. Rolando Teruel
shared unpublished data. Alexander Arango assisted us in
keeping some of the specimens reported in this work (females
Nos. 2, 4, and 5). We also thank the administration and
workers of Cienfuegos Botanical Garden for logistical sup-
port and accommodations.
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