Leptodeira bakeri
| Leptodeira bakeri | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Genus: | Leptodeira |
| Species: | L. bakeri
|
| Binomial name | |
| Leptodeira bakeri Ruthven, 1936
| |
Leptodeira bakeri, known commonly as Baker's cat-eyed snake or Aruban cat-eyed snake,[2] is a species of reptile in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is found in Aruba and in Venezuela.
Taxonomy and etymology
The specific name, bakeri, is in honor of American zoologist Horace Burrington Baker, who collected the holotype on 6 August 1922, with the type locality being Bubali, Aruba. In 1923, after Baker had brought back with him the series of specimens that contained the eventual holotype to Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan's, Alexander G. Ruthven examined and recorded it as a member of Leptodeira annulata. It would not be until later, after he investigated the eventual holotype and other snake specimens from its region that he concluded that it constituted a separate species, the first description of which he published in 1936.[3][4]
Description and behaviour
The dorsal scales of L.bakeri are arranged in 19 rows on the neck, 17 rows at midbody, and 15 rows near the cloaca. The ventral scales number 170–175.[3][2]
L.bakeri is terrestrial and partly arboreal,[2] and preys upon frogs.[1]
Distribution and habitat
L. bakeri can be found on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, the Paraguaná Peninsula of Falcón, Venezuela, and in Zulia, Venezuela, in an area to the southwest of the state capital Maracaibo. In total, its range spans an area of about 11,000 km2 (4,200 sq mi).[1] The natural habitats of Leptodeira bakeri are forest and shrubland, where it lives at altitudes from sea level to 150 m (490 ft), but its also known to inhabit habitats that have been degraded by human activity, such as gardens and pastures.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Rivas, G.; Schargel, W. (2016). "Leptodeira bakeri ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T203539A115350661. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
- ^ a b c Species Leptodeira bakeri at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ a b Ruthven, Alexander G. (1 April 1936). "Leptodeira bakeri, new species". Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology. 330. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. hdl:2027.42/56769. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via University of Michigan.
- ^ Beolens, B.; Watkins, M.; Grayson, M. (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 45. ISBN 9781421402277 – via ProQuest Ebook Central.
Further reading
- Rivas, G.A.; Molina, C.R.; Ugueto, G.N.; Barros, T.R.; Barrio-Amorós, C.L.; Kok, P.J.R. (2012). "Reptiles of Venezuela: an updated and commented checklist". Zootaxa. 3211: 1–64. (Leptodeira bakeri, p. 22). (in English, with an abstract in Spanish).