Notas del comportamiento predatorio e ingestión de Chironius monticola (Serpentes: Colubridae) en el suroccidente del Ecuador

Abstract

We report two cases of predatory behavior of Chironius monticola on Pristimantis w-nigrum, which occurred in the province of El Oro, southwest of Ecuador. In the first case a juvenile male Chironius monticola was observed in the process of swallowing a Pristimantis w-nigrum, the event lasted at least ten minutes in which the snake did not consume the frog in its entirety. The second event describes how Chironius monticola held with its mouth the head of a Pristimantis w-nigrum, then apparently makes use of stones around it to push its prey and swallow it completely. This case was videotaped for 3 min 16 s. This event is the first known record of external resource use for this species. Both records suggest the preference for anurans by Chironius monticola, although more data are needed to assert this since their diet depends of the availability of prey as well as their age.

Keywords

• anecdotal events
• anuran predation
• natural history
• prey
• pristimantis w-nigrum
• swallowing.