首页|Attempted predation of a chameleon Chamaeleo gracilis by Blanding's tree snake Toxicodryas blandingii
Attempted predation of a chameleon Chamaeleo gracilis by Blanding's tree snake Toxicodryas blandingii
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Blanding's tree snake Toxicodryas blandingii is a nocturnal, rear-fanged, venomous and largely arboreal snake that has been recorded 20 m above the forest floor (e.g. Pitman, 1974). Its prey may include frogs, chameleons and other arboreal lizards, rodents and bats (e.g. Cansdale, 1961; Menzies, 1966; Wickler & Uhrig, 1969; Luiselli et al., 1998) but interestingly a quantitative study in southern Nigeria has shown that it undergoes an ontogenetic dietary change (Luiselli et al., 1998) with juveniles feeding only on lizards (Scincidae, Agamidae, Chamaeleonidae) of appropriate size, subadult stages adopting a wider diet, and adults eating mainly birds and mammals. Here we report a case of attempted predation by a juvenile Blanding's tree snake of a chameleon Chamaeleo gracilis. It should be noted that in this case we are using the traditional classification of the T. blandingii complex, although a recent article suggests that T. blandingii occurs only west of the confluence of the Congo and Ubangi rivers (Greenbaum et al., 2021), while our observation was made to the east.
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JAMES KATONGOLE、MATHIAS BEHANGANA、LUCA LUISELLI
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Budongo Ecolodge, PO Box 33024, Kampala, Uganda
Nature Uganda, PO Box 27034, Kampala, Uganda
Institute for Development, Ecology, Conservation and Cooperation, via G. Tomasi di Lampedusa 33 - 00144 Rome, Italy
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