''Alsophis manselli'', the Montserrat racer, is a species of snake

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

island of

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

Description

The Montserrat racer can reach nearly a meter in length. It feeds on

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

s and small rodents. It rarely bites humans, but may release a foul-smelling (though harmless)

cloacal In animal anatomy, a cloaca ( ), plural cloacae ( or ), is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles and birds, a ...

secretion when disturbed.

Taxonomy

Along with '' Alsophis sibonius'' from

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

, it was previously considered a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''

Alsophis antillensis ''Alsophis antillensis'', the Guadeloupe racer, Antilles racer, or Leeward racer, is a species of snake endemic to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. Description It can reach nearly a meter in length. It feeds on lizards and small rodents. It ...

''.

References

Alsophis Endemic fauna of Montserrat Snakes of the Caribbean Reptiles of Montserrat Reptiles described in 1933 Taxa named by Hampton Wildman Parker {{Colubrids-stub