The Barbados racer (''Erythrolamprus perfuscus''), also commonly known as the tan ground snake, was a
species of
colubrid snake that was
endemic to
Barbados. It is now
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
.
History
This species was often believed to be the snake described by Richard Ligon
Richard Ligon (1585?–1662), an English author, lost his fortune as a royalist during the English Civil War (1642-1651), and during this turbulent time in England he found himself, as he notes in his narrative, a "stranger in my own country ...
in his "''A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes''" (1657):"Having done with Beasts and Birds, we will enquire what other lesser Animalls or Insects there are upon the Iland, of which, Snakes are the chiefe, because the largest; and I have seen some of those a yard and a halfe long."
Conservation status
It is believed to be extinct, as there has not been a confirmed sighting since 1961.
Description
It grew to a total length of , which included a tail long.[ Boulenger, G.A. 1894. ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ.'' Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, Printers.) London. xi + 382 pp. + Plates I.- XX. (''Liophis perfuscus'', p. 133.)] It was colored brown with lighter sides, and light lateral stripes to the rear.[.]
Habitat, behavior, and diet
It probably lived in mesic habitats, and actively foraged during the day for lizards and frogs.[
]
Footnotes
References
*.
*.
*
Further reading
* Cope, E.D. 1862. Synopsis of the Species of ''Holcosus'' and ''Ameiva'', with Diagnoses of new West Indian and South American Colubridæ. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 14: 60–82. (''Liophis perfuscus'', p. 77.)
* Schwartz, A., and R. Thomas
R. Thomas (March 13, 1961 – 1971) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred in Kentucky by Bull Hancock at his renowned Claiborne Farm. Sired by Nadir, the 1957 American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, his dam was Fleet Flight, a daughte ...
. 1975. ''A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles''. Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 216 pp. (''Dromicus perfuscus'', p. 183.)
External links
*
''Liophis perfuscus''
at the Encyclopedia of Life
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2382472
Erythrolamprus
Snakes of the Caribbean
Reptiles of Barbados
Endemic fauna of Barbados
Reptiles described in 1862
Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot