Philodryas patagoniensis (Girard, 1858)

enezes, Frederico de Alcantara, Abegg, Arthur Diesel, Silva, Bruno Rocha da, ranco, Francisco Luis & Feio, Renato Neves, 2018, Composition and natural history of the snakes from the Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio, southern Minas Gerais, Serra da Mantiqueira, Brazil, ZooKeys 797, pp. 117-160 : 117

Philodryas patagoniensis (Girard, 1858) Figure 4E

Natural history notes.

Species of medium size (n = 9), diurnal and terrestrial ( Marques et al. 2001, Hartmann and Marques 2005). All observations occurred in open areas during the day. Seven individuals were found between 14:00 and 17:00 h, and two were found in the morning. According to Sazima and Haddad (1992), and Hartmann and Marques (2005), this species is active mainly during the hottest hours of the day. In December, during the day (14:00 h), we found two adults (male and female) about two meters away from each other. Both were coiled at rest and showed evidence of being in the shedding process.

In September, an adult was observed at 14:00 h near a ravine, while it was being attacked by two different birds ( Poospiza sp. and an unidentified Passeriformes ), possibly in defense of a nearby nest. In July, an adult was observed at 15:00 h, while it was ingesting a rodent. Out of the four examined specimens, two presented rodents in their stomach. Machado-Filho (2015) suggest this species is generalist, feeding on anurans (27%), lizards (25.8%), mammals (19.4%), snakes (10.9%), birds (8%), spiders (4%), fish (0.4%) and amphibians (0.4%). P. patagoniensis was found during all seasons of the year with higher frequency in December (n = 4). There is no information on reproduction of the examined individuals. Previous records indicate reproduction is seasonal, with three to nine eggs, secondary vitellogenesis between August and December, and ovulation between October and December ( Fowler et al. 1998, Sawaya et al. 2008). As defensive tactics of this species, we observed cloacal discharge, head elevation, head triangulation, and neck S-coiling.

Altitudinal variation.

This species was found at a minimum of sea level from the coast of Argentina to the state of Espírito Santo and maximum of 1660 m a.s.l. in Umuarama, Campos do Jordão, SP ( Bérnils 2009). The maximum altitudinal record for this species is from the area in this study, where an individual was recorded at 2200 m a.s.l. altitude, in the Alagoa, MG.

Distribution and habitat.

North, northeast, central-west, southeast and southern Brazil (Bahia, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, and São Paulo), Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay ( Wallach et al. 2014). This species can be found in open mountain areas, pampas, plateau fields, chacos, cerrados, restingas and deforested areas ( Giraudo and Scrocchi 2002, Bérnils et al. 2007).