''Ialtris agyrtes'', also known as the Barahona red-headed racer or the Barreras fanged snake, is a rare species of snake in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Dipsadinae Dipsadinae is a large subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Dipsadidae). They are found in most of the Americas, including the West Indies, and are most diverse in South America. There are more than 700 species. Dips ...

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Colubridae Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on ever ...

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 southwestern

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

Taxonomy

The species was described in 1976 by Albert Schwartz and Douglas A. Rossman. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

(LSUM 28564) is an adult female from Barreras, Azua, Dominican Republic; and was captured by a native collector on 25 July 1969.

Etymology

The name ''agyrtes'' has

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

origin, translating to "mimic, cheat", and bears reference to the superficial resemblance of this species to the related '' Ialtris parishi''.

Description

It is a small species of ''Ialtris'' with a nearly patternless, brown to tan dorsum. A pale whitish supralabial line is present, extending from the tip of the snout to the base of the head and with darker brown superior margins. The venter is also patternless, nearly white, and grading posteriorly to pale orange. ''I. agyrtes'' is a

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

species, with semi-fossorial habits.

Distribution and habitat

This species is only known from three localities. Its range includes the southern foothills of the Sierra de Bahoruco mountain range in the Barahona Peninsula; as well as the lower elevations of Sierra Martín Garcia National Park. In these three locations the habitat is very similar, suggesting this species might be a specialist, inhabiting mid-elevation

dry forests The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

. The altitudinal distribution recorded is 20 to 541 m. Specimens have been found under stones, and organic debris including the decaying rosettes of dead ''

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

'' which are particularly abundant in their habitat.

Diet

The

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

of this snake is known to include blind-snakes (family

Typhlopidae The Typhlopidae are a family of blind snakes. They are found mostly in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and all mainland Australia and various islands. The rostral scale overhangs the mouth to form a shovel-like burrowing str ...

), and it has been hypothesized that this species could have a specialized ophiophagous diet of

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric eviden ...

snakes. Other blind-snakes of the genus ''

Mitophis ''Mitophis'' is a genus of snakes in the family Leptotyphlopidae. All of the species were previously placed in the genus ''Leptotyphlops''. All members of this genus are endemic to the island of Hispaniola (in the Dominican Republic The ...

'' (family

Leptotyphlopidae The Leptotyphlopidae (commonly called slender blind snakes or thread snakes) are a family of snakes found in North America, South America, Africa and Asia. All are fossorial and adapted to burrowing, feeding on ants and termites. Two subfamilies ...

), as well as snake-like lizards ('' Wetmorena agasepsoides'') are known to be

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...

with ''I. agyrtes'' and could be part of its diet as well. Another species of the same genus, '' I. haetianus'', is considered to be a specialist feeding on frogs of the genus ''

Eleutherodactylus ''Eleutherodactylus'' is a genus of frogs in the family Eleutherodactylidae.Hedges, S. B., W. E. Duellman, and M. P. Heinicke . 2008. New World direct-developing frogs (Anura: Terrarana): molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography, and co ...

'', along with their eggs. Since frogs are very abundant in the

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

habitat of ''I. haetianus'', and blind-snakes are very abundant in the dry forest habitat of ''I. agyrtes'', it could be considered that these to snakes occupy similar niches in distinct

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

Conservation

''I. agyrtes'' is listed as

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

by the

IUCN Red List of Endangered Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

, due to its limited distribution and the ongoing destruction of its habitat. Although this species is known to occur in at least two

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

s ( Parque Nacional Jaragua and Parque Nacional Sierra Martín García), the particular dry forest habitat occupied by this species has received a lot of pressure resulting from heavy exploitation for

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

production. Illegal

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

cattle grazing Pastoral farming (also known in some regions as ranching, livestock farming or grazing) is aimed at producing livestock, rather than growing crops. Examples include dairy farming, raising beef cattle, and raising sheep for wool. In contrast, ar ...

and wood harvesting also takes place in both national parks, and protection measures are poorly enforced. An

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

, the

small Indian mongoose The small Indian mongoose (''Urva auropunctata'') is a mongoose species native to Iraq and northern South Asia; it has also been introduced to many regions of the world, such as several Caribbean and Pacific islands. Taxonomy ''Mangusta auropun ...

(''Urva auropunctata'') has been highly suspected to represent a threat for ''I. agyrtes'', given its diurnal and terrestrial habits. It is also possible that this has always been a rare species, and that populations are not declining, as it has never been reported to be abundant in past. The

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

of this species has received very little attention, and there are currently no conservation measures taking place.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3147220 Ialtris Snakes of North America Reptiles of the Dominican Republic Endemic fauna of the Dominican Republic Taxa named by Albert Schwartz (zoologist) Species described in 1976