''Borikenophis portoricensis''
[ (]Puerto Rican Spanish
Puerto Rican Spanish (''español puertorriqueño'' ) is the variety (linguistics), variety of the Spanish language as characteristically spoken in Puerto Rico and by millions of people of Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent living in the ...
: culebra corredora; English: Puerto Rican racer) is a 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 Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
and the Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...
. It can grow to three feet long.
Range
The Puerto Rican racer is 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 island of Puerto Rico, as well as the Virgin Islands.[''Is the Puerto Rican racer, Alsophis portoricensis, really harmless? A case report series.''](_blank)
García-Gubern C., Bello R., Rivera V., Rocafort A., Colon-Rolon L., Acosta-Tapia H. (Department of Emergency Medicine, Hospital San Lucas
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency ...
, Ponce School of Medicine
The Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU), formerly Ponce School of Medicine & Health Sciences, is a Private university, private, For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Ponce, Puerto Rico and St. Louis, Miss ...
, Ponce, Puerto Rico.) 2010. Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. (Wilderness Environ Med. 2010 Dec; 21(4):353-6. doi: 10.1016/j.wem.2010.07.001. Epub 2010 Aug 5.) Retrieved 29 July 2013. It slinks around in the trees of the Toro Negro State Forest
Toro Negro State Forest (Spanish: ''Bosque Estatal de Toro Negro'') is one of the 21 forests that make up the public forests system in Puerto Rico. It is also Puerto Rico's highest cloud forest. It is in the Cordillera Central region of the is ...
. It has also been spotted at El Yunque National Forest
El Yunque National Forest ( es, Bosque Nacional El Yunque), formerly known as the Caribbean National Forest (or ''Bosque Nacional del Caribe''), is a forest located in northeastern Puerto Rico. It is the only tropical rainforest in the United Sta ...
.
Appearance
Its body sports a solid brown color with each of his scales edged by a darker brown. The Puerto Rican racer also possesses a neck hood similar, but narrower, to that of a cobra which it exposes by raising the front quarters of their bodies off the ground in a manner similar to that genus. However, unlike the ''Naja
''Naja'' is a genus of venomous elapid snakes commonly known as cobras (or "true cobras"). Members of the genus ''Naja'' are the most widespread and the most widely recognized as "true" cobras. Various species occur in regions throughout Afric ...
'' snakes, B. portoricensis does not gratuitously exhibit this behavior as an intimidation tactic and generally employs it while engaging on offensive behavior after being provoked, which typically involves adopting the posture followed by an emboldened strike.[''Snakes Of Puerto Rico.'']
Larry Rodriguez-Fornaris. Chewy, Inc. 2018. Accessed 20 May 2019.
Hunting habits
Like the Toro Negros's other various garden snakes, it is a daytime hunter.
Amy M. Armstrong. Demand Media. Retrieved 30 July 2013. It is capable of inflicting a venomous bite.
Once it captures its prey, B. portoricensis has a tendency of relocating it prior to feeding.
[ Although still susceptible to infection, it is more resistant to parasites than other local snakes, allowing it to survive exclusively on lizards.][ The severity of its venom depends on the susceptibility of the victim, it is capable of fully paralyzing small reptiles and rodents rendering them helpless for consumption, but in humans its effects ranges from mild swelling to immobilization and severe numbness that may last up to a month.][ No fatalities have been reported from the bite of a Puerto Rican racer.][
]
See also
*List of amphibians and reptiles of Puerto Rico
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*Fauna of Puerto Rico
The fauna of Puerto Rico is similar to other island archipelago faunas, with high endemism, and low, skewed taxonomic diversity. Bats are the only extant native terrestrial mammals in Puerto Rico. All other terrestrial mammals in the area were in ...
*List of endemic fauna of Puerto Rico
This is a list of the endemic fauna of Puerto Rico. This list is sorted in alphabetical order by the scientific name of the species, which are in parentheses.
Birds
* Yellow-shouldered blackbird (''Agelaius xanthomus'')
* Puerto Rican parro ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borikenophis portoricensis
Reptiles of Puerto Rico
Reptiles of the United States Virgin Islands
Colubrids
Venomous snakes
Reptiles described in 1863