IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(1):70–72 • APR 2019

Unusual Morphs of Russell’s Viper, Daboia russelii (Shaw and Nodder 1797),

from Goa, IndiaKrunal Trivedi1 and Shricharan Desai2

126, Kasturba Mahila Society, Palanpur Patiya, Surat, India 395009 (krunal.trivedi.7567@gmail.com)2Study and Awareness of Wildlife and Environment, Ponda, Goa, India 403401 (charandesai@gmail.com)

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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S

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

R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E S

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

C O N S E R V A T I O N A L E R T

World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225

H U S B A N D R Y

Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226

P R O F I L E

Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234

C O M M E N T A R Y

The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238

B O O K R E V I E W

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.Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos accullabo.

Back Cover. Michael KernTotat et velleseque audant mo

estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus

aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque

moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia-tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as

IRC

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REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSC O N S E R V AT I O N A N D N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y

Copyright © 2019. Krunal Trivedi. All rights reserved.

WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNAL

Russell’s Viper, Daboia russelii (Shaw and Nodder 1797), belongs to the family Viperidae and is widely distrib-

uted throughout the Indian Subcontinent (Daniel 2002; Uetz et al. 2018). Usually it occurs in plains but has been recorded at elevations to 2,100 m in southern India and to 1,800 m in the western Himalayas. It is abundant through-out India, except in the Ganga Valley, North Bengal, and Assam (Daniel 2002).

Ground color is generally brown or yellowish brown, with three longitudinal series of prominent, large dark oval spots that usually are brown with black and white or buff margins (Smith 1946; Daniel 2001; Whitaker and Captain 2004; Uetz et al. 2018). The dorsal spots may coalesce and the lateral spots may be broken. The spots may be pointed and can meet to form a chain-like pattern (Fig. 1). The ven-ter is yellowish with black or brown markings on the sides of

Fig. 1. A normally colored and patterned Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) from Goa, India. Photograph by Kedar Marathe.

IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324

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the ventral scales. The top of the head usually has a narrow, white arrow-shaped mark and a pair of oval or triangular dark brown markings. We recently encountered two unusual Russell’s Vipers from Goa, India. The first (Fig. 2) was a juvenile (381 mm total length) rescued on 10 March 2016 by Suresh Chodankar and Amrut Singh of the Animal Rescue Squad from the ASC Supply Depot of Margoa, Goa (15°16’18.929”N, 73°57’30.027”E). It was pale brown with a middorsal stripe extending from the neck onto the tail. An oval mark on the head, which was slightly darker than the ground color, was the only other pattern element. The second snake (Fig. 3), a juvenile male (280 mm total length), was rescued from Khandola, North Goa (15°31’20.11”N, 73°57›40.772»E), 36 km from the site where the first snake was encountered, on 7 April 2017 by Kanak Bakre of SAWE (Study and Awareness of Wildlife and Environment). It had a prominent middor-sal stripe extending from the neck onto the tail. A triangular mark, slightly darker than the ground color, between the eyes and a pair of brown sub-oval marks on the head were the only other pattern elements. Venters of both snakes were white and without markings. Both snakes were released close to their rescue sites. Benhail Antao (pers. comm.) rescued three similar snakes (an adult in 2014 from Bondorim Village and

two juveniles in 2015 from Monte Hill, Margoa). No data were collected from those three snakes.

IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(1):70–72 • APR 2019DESAI AND TRIVEDI

Fig. 3. A juvenile Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) with an unusual pattern rescued in 2017 in Khandola. Photograph by Shricharan Desai.

Fig. 2. A juvenile Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) with an unusual pattern rescued in 2016 in Margoa. Photograph by Krunal Trivedi.

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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(1):70–72 • APR 2019DESAI AND TRIVEDI

Patel and Tank (2014) described two unusual Russell’s Vipers from Navsari, Gujarat with pale ground color and lat-eral brown-black oval spots and two light middorsal stripes extending from the neck onto the tail. Whitaker and Captain (2004) reported a color variant with a reddish-brown ground color and a very indistinct to entirely absent pattern from Mangalore. Such unusual color morphs usually are the result of some genetic anomaly in pigmentation (e.g., Bechtel 1995). Aberrant individuals rarely survive in nature since normal col-oration typically has been selected for camouflage (e.g., Norris and Lowe 1964), to facilitate thermoregulation (Gibsons and Fall 1979), or reflect locality and habitat use (Kark et al. 1997).

AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to Amrut Singh and Suresh Chodankar (Animal Rescue Squad-Goa) for allowing us to examine the snakes and for sharing information. We also are thankful to Kanak Bakre, Kedar Marathe, and team SAWE for their sup-port in rescue and documentation, and Benhail Antao for sharing information on an earlier rescued snake. KT is thank-

ful to Harshil Patel for his suggestions and literature. He also extends his gratitude to Snehal Patel and the Nature Club, Surat, for constant support and motivation.

Literature CitedBechtel, H.B. 1995. Reptile and Amphibian Variants: Color, Pattern, and Scales.

Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida.

Daniel, J.C. 2002. The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford University Press, Mumbai.

Gibson, A.R. and J.B. Falls 1979. Thermal biology of the Common Garter Snake Thamnophis sirtalis Linnaeus. The effect of melanism. Oecologia 43: 99–109.

Norris, K.S. and C.H. Lowe. 1964. An analysis of background color-matching in amphibians and reptiles. Ecology 45: 565–580.

Kark S., I. Warburg, and Y.L. Werner. 1997. Polymorphism in the snake Psammophis schokari on both sides of the desert edge in Israel and Sinai. Journal of Arid Environments 37: 513–527.

Patel, H. and S.K. Tank. 2014. Cases of unusual color morph in Russell’s Viper Daboia russelii (Shaw and Nodder, 1797) from Gujarat, India. Reptile Rap 16: 27–30.

Smith, M.A. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the whole Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. Taylor and Francis, London.

Uetz, P., J. Hallermann, and J. Hošek (eds.). 2018. The Reptile Database (http://www.reptile-database.org).

Whitaker, R. and A. Captain 2004. Snakes of India. The Field Guide. Draco Books, Chennai.