Erythrolamprus cursor (Martinique Ground Snake)

[Melanie]

The Lesser Antilles is a biodiversity hot spot but unfortunately human disturbance has taken its toll, causing dramatic population declines and even extinction of numerous endemic species. Nevertheless, today the rediscovery of previously thought extinct species is not uncommon. Often, old museum specimens and their original descriptions are the only information available for such species. The application of molecular phylogenetic relationships to extant species can help to elucidate pivotal information on their ecology and conservation. Erythrolamprus cursor is possibly an extinct colubrid racer from Martinique, currently classified as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid sequences were obtained from four E. cursor specimens from the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris) collections. All sequences recovered the same haplotype and the level of divergence between E. cursor and E. juliae, from the nearby island of Dominica, was lower than between other intraspecific distances within other Erythrolamprus. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses confirm that these two species are sister taxa and share most recent common ancestry. We discuss that published ecological data available for the sister species (E. juliae) may help to elucidate information on this species' natural history, ultimately having important implications for a future conservation management program if E. cursor is to be found. We emphasize the urgent need to conduct an exhaustive survey on the supposed last population of E. cursor at Diamond Rock to establish the survival of this species there, to understand how it may have adapted to such an ecosystem, especially in sympatry of several introduced rodent species.

www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1655/HERPETOLOGICA-D-12-00085?prevSearch=%255BAbstract%253A%2Bextinct%255D&searchHistoryKey=&queryHash=7bc2d17c7af66bdd61218c1dad04e09a

[surroundx]

IUCN Red List evaluation (as Liophis cursor):

www.iucnredlist.org/details/12079/0

[Melanie]

Also known as Martinique racer or Lacépède's Ground Snake

[Sebbe]

Jun 2, 2013 10:33:54 GMT Melanie said:

The Lesser Antilles is a biodiversity hot spot but unfortunately human disturbance has taken its toll, causing dramatic population declines and even extinction of numerous endemic species. Nevertheless, today the rediscovery of previously thought extinct species is not uncommon. Often, old museum specimens and their original descriptions are the only information available for such species. The application of molecular phylogenetic relationships to extant species can help to elucidate pivotal information on their ecology and conservation. Erythrolamprus cursor is possibly an extinct colubrid racer from Martinique, currently classified as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid sequences were obtained from four E. cursor specimens from the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris) collections. All sequences recovered the same haplotype and the level of divergence between E. cursor and E. juliae, from the nearby island of Dominica, was lower than between other intraspecific distances within other Erythrolamprus. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses confirm that these two species are sister taxa and share most recent common ancestry. We discuss that published ecological data available for the sister species (E. juliae) may help to elucidate information on this species' natural history, ultimately having important implications for a future conservation management program if E. cursor is to be found. We emphasize the urgent need to conduct an exhaustive survey on the supposed last population of E. cursor at Diamond Rock to establish the survival of this species there, to understand how it may have adapted to such an ecosystem, especially in sympatry of several introduced rodent species.

www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1655/HERPETOLOGICA-D-12-00085?prevSearch=%255BAbstract%253A%2Bextinct%255D&searchHistoryKey=&queryHash=7bc2d17c7af66bdd61218c1dad04e09a

Molecular Phylogenetics of the Possibly Extinct Martinique Ground Snake

"This latter species was common throughout Martinique (French West Indies) during the 18th and 19th centuries (Moreau de Jonn` es, 1818). However, few have been the sightings for the last half of the century. Despite the fact that there have been several reports from the 1970s, the last observation of this colubrid in Martinique is of one individual caught in 1965 in the vicinity of Fort-de-France. Furthermore, the last published records are from Diamond Rock, a small islet (5.8 ha) that lies 2 km south from Martinique, in 1962 (Lazell, 1967), and two additional specimens were collected at this locality in 1964 and 1968 (Breuil, 2009; Fig. 1). In addition, fishermen have reported a snake basking on the rocks of Diamond Rock. In an attempt to find this snake, Michel Breuil and Mark Day searched Diamond Rock in 1997 with no success (Breuil, 2009). Thus, lack of any official sightings of this snake for 44 yr suggests that it is quite likely that it may have recently become extinct(Honegger, 1981)."

digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/77924/1/herpetologica-d-12-00085.pdf

There is a photograph of a specimen at animaveg.canalblog.com/archives/projet_diamant/index.html

[Sebbe]

Is the Martinique ground snake Erythrolamprus cursor extinct?

The Caribbean Islands are a biodiversity hotspot where anthropogenic disturbances have had a significant impact, causing population declines and extinction of endemic species. The ground snake Erythrolamprus cursor is a dipsadid endemic to Martinique; it is categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is known only from museum specimens. The snake was common on Martinique during the 18th and 19th centuries but there have been no reliable sightings since 1968, suggesting it may have gone extinct, probably as a result of the introduction of the small Indian mongoose Herpestes javanicus auropunctatus. However, the islet known as Diamond Rock, south-west of Martinique, is mongoose-free and the last reported sighting of E. cursor there was in 1968. The islet was last occupied during the Napoleonic Empire (the early 19th century), is now completely protected, and is difficult to access (it spans 5.8 ha, with a maximum elevation of 175 m). We conducted the first extensive survey of the islet, over 10 days, to clarifty the status of E. cursor. Our study revealed that unique conditions exist on Diamond Rock (i.e. aridity and a distinct potential prey community) and that E. cursor would have had to modify its ecology to persist on the islet. Although the rugged terrain of Diamond Rock makes it difficult to explore, it is probable that E. cursor is now extinct.

journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9795082&fulltextType=BT&fileId=S0030605315000228

[surroundx]

Jul 12, 2015 17:37:49 GMT Sebbe said:

Is the Martinique ground snake Erythrolamprus cursor extinct?

The Caribbean Islands are a biodiversity hotspot where anthropogenic disturbances have had a significant impact, causing population declines and extinction of endemic species. The ground snake Erythrolamprus cursor is a dipsadid endemic to Martinique; it is categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is known only from museum specimens. The snake was common on Martinique during the 18th and 19th centuries but there have been no reliable sightings since 1968, suggesting it may have gone extinct, probably as a result of the introduction of the small Indian mongoose Herpestes javanicus auropunctatus. However, the islet known as Diamond Rock, south-west of Martinique, is mongoose-free and the last reported sighting of E. cursor there was in 1968. The islet was last occupied during the Napoleonic Empire (the early 19th century), is now completely protected, and is difficult to access (it spans 5.8 ha, with a maximum elevation of 175 m). We conducted the first extensive survey of the islet, over 10 days, to clarifty the status of E. cursor. Our study revealed that unique conditions exist on Diamond Rock (i.e. aridity and a distinct potential prey community) and that E. cursor would have had to modify its ecology to persist on the islet. Although the rugged terrain of Diamond Rock makes it difficult to explore, it is probable that E. cursor is now extinct.

journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9795082&fulltextType=BT&fileId=S0030605315000228

Available free online: www.researchgate.net/publication/278947601_Is_the_Martinique_ground_snake_Erythrolamprus_cursor_extinct

[Sebbe]

Listed as Critically Endangered on the basis that this species has a maximum extent of occurrence of 0.06 km2, representing a single location where any surviving population is at extreme risk from stochastic events, inbreeding, and likely predation by invasive house mice, all of which are likely to result in a decline in the number of mature individuals in any surviving population. The species is considered extinct on Martinique and intensive targeted surveys have failed to record any evidence that snakes survive on Rocher du Diamant. While experts searching for this species have concluded that it is probably now extinct, there are recent anecdotal reports of snakes on Rocher du Diamant and a small part of the island was inaccessible to surveyors, so a it is possible that a very small number of individuals survive.

This snake is known only from Martinique and the 0.06 km2 satellite of Rocher du Diamant (Henderson and Powell 2009). It was last recorded on the main island in 1965 (and the last record from the northern part of the island was in 1879), and from Rocher du Diamant in 1968. It is presumed to be extinct on Martinique, where many years of intensive searches have failed to record it (M. Dewynter pers. comm. 2015).

Until recently it was believed to remain on Rocher du Diamant (0.06 km2). A 10-day targeted survey in 2014, including baiting traps, failed to record any evidence that the species survives on Rocher du Diamant, and it has not been found in other recent surveys (Caut and Jowers 2016). These authors concluded that the species is most likely extinct, although they were unable to survey the most remote parts of the island. There are, however, credible anecdotal reports of early-morning sightings as late as 2015 (M. Dewynter pers. comm. 2015).

The species was reported to be common across Martinique before 1879 (Dewynter et al. in press), however, it has never since been recorded from this island's north and was last recorded from Martinique in 1965. It has almost certainly been lost from Martinique. If it is still present on Rocher du Diamant, from which it was last recorded in 1968 (Breuil 2002) it is at a very low population density (Powell and Henderson 2005, Henderson and Powell 2009). Although historical reports indicate that it was abundant here in the 18th Century nothing is reported of its abundance or population trends on the islet since, however, comparison with congeners suggests that the island may never have supported a population in excess of 50 individuals (Caut and Jowers 2016). A targeted survey was carried out on Rocher du Diamant, involving two researchers surveying both visually and with snake-specific intercept traps between 4 and 14 June 2014 (Caut and Jowers 2016). This effort failed to record any evidence that the species still exists, with no records of either individuals, eggs, or skins although the traps successfully recorded every reptile species known to survive on the island (Caut and Jowers 2016). Although these authors conclude that the species is probably extinct, they note that some areas of the islet were inaccessible to their survey on logistical grounds.

www.iucnredlist.org/details/12079/0