Erythrolamprus ornatus

Saint Lucia racer
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 2.3) [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Erythrolamprus
Species:	E. ornatus
Binomial name
Erythrolamprus ornatus (Garman, 1887) [2]
Synonyms [3]
Dromicus giganteus Jan, 1863 ( nomen nudum ) Dromicus ornatusGarman, 1887 Liophis ornatus(Garman, 1887)

Erythrolamprus ornatus, also known commonly as the ornate ground snake and the Saint Lucia racer, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. ^[2] The species is native to the eastern Caribbean. It is the rarest snake on earth with fewer than 20 left in the wild. ^[4]

Geographic range

Erythrolamprus ornatus is endemic to Saint Lucia, ^[5] an island nation in the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It once lived all over Saint Lucia, but now is only found on the islet of Maria Major. ^[6]

Description

Adults of this non-venomous snake, E. ornatus, may attain a total length (including tail) of 123.5 cm (48.6 in). ^[7] Its coloration is variable. Some individuals have a broad brown vertebral stripe. In others, the brown stripe is interrupted by alternating yellow spots. ^[7]

Behavior and ecology

The preferred natural habitats of E. ornatus are forest and shrubland, at altitudes from sea level to 950 m (3,120 ft). ^[1] E. ornatus is an ambush predator of small rodents and lizards, ^{[7] [6]} and probably diurnal. ^[7] E. ornatus is oviparous. ^[3]

Conservation status

In 1936, E. ornatus was declared extinct, but it was rediscovered in 1973. It disappeared again soon after, but 11 individuals were found in 2012 on the mongoose-free island of Maria Major off the coast of Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia. ^{[8] [9]} Currently the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, working with Fauna & Flora International, Saint Lucia National Trust and Saint Lucia Forestry Department, are working to build a captive breeding population with two facilities, one for breeding the snakes and one for cultivating food sources. ^[10]

References

1. Daltry JC (2016). "Erythrolamprus ornatus (errata version published in 2017)". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T12080A115104404. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T12080A71739705.en. Downloaded on 08 May 2020. (Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is endangered).
2. ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
3. Species Erythrolamprus ornatus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
4. "Saint Lucia racer". Fauna & Flora International.
5. Schwartz A, Thomas R (1975). A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. (Dromicus ornatus, p. 183).
6. "Fauna & Flora International".
7. Malhotra A, Thorpe RS (1999). Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. London: Macmillan. ix + 134 pp. ISBN   0-333-69141-5. (Erythrolamprus ornatus, p. 97).
8. "Snake Returns from Extinction". Discovery News. July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
9. Victor, Jeannette (14 March 2017). "Facts about St. Lucian snakes including the rarest in the world". St Lucia News Online. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
10. "Breeding facility set up for Critically Endangered Saint Lucia racer | Durrell". www.durrell.org. Retrieved 2023-11-28.

Further reading

• Garman S (1887). "On West Indian Reptiles in the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, at Cambridge, Mass". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society24: 278–286. (Dromicus ornatus, new species, p. 281).
• Grazziotin FG, Zaher H, Murphy RW, Scrocchi G, Benavides MA, Zhang Y-P, Bonatto SL (2012). "Molecular Phylogeny of the New World Dipsadidae (Serpentes: Colubroidea): a reappraisal". Cladistics28 (5): 437–459. (Erythrolamprus ornatus, new combination, p. 457).
• Parker HW (1936). "Some extinct Snakes of the West Indies". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Tenth Series18: 227–233.
• Schwartz A, Henderson RW (1991). Amphibians & Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press. 720 pp. ISBN   978-0813010496. (Liophis ornatus, p. 625).
• Smith HM, Dixon JR, Wallach V (1993). "Dromicus giganteus Jan (Reptilia: Serpentes) is a nomen nudum ". Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society29 (3): 77–79.
• Williams RJ, Ross TN, Morton MN, Daltry JC, Isidore L (2016). "Update on the natural history and conservation status of the Saint Lucia racer, Erythrolamprus ornatus Garman, 1887 (Squamata: Dipsadidae)". Herpetology Notes9: 157–162.