Leptodeira bakeri

Leptodeira bakeri
Scientific classification Edit this 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, also known commonly as the Aruban cat-eyed snake and Baker's cat-eyed snake, is a species of rear-fanged snake in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is found in Aruba and Venezuela.

Etymology and taxonomy

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, herpetologist 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 Ruthven concluded that it constituted a separate species, the original description of which he published in 1936.

Description

Leptodeira bakeri.

The dorsal scales of Leptodeira 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.

Behavior

Leptodeira bakeri is terrestrial and partly arboreal.

Diet

Leptodeira bakeri preys upon frogs.

Geographic distribution

Leptodeira 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 geographic range spans an area of about 11,000 km2 (4,200 sq mi).

Habitat

The natural habitats of Leptodeira bakeri are forest and shrubland, at altitudes from sea level to 150 m (490 ft), but it is also known to inhabit habitats that have been degraded by human activity, such as gardens and pastures.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Rivas, G.; Schargel, W. (2016). "Leptodeira bakeri ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T203539A115350661. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Species Leptodeira bakeri at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. 1 2 Ruthven, Alexander G. (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.
  4. ↑ 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