Chironius brazili Hamdan & Fernandes, 2015

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

Chironius brazili Hamdan & Fernandes, 2015 Figure 4A

Natural history notes.

Medium-size species (n = 1), diurnal and semi-arboreal ( Dixon et al. 1993, Marques et al 2015). Five observations of C. brazili were made (one during fieldwork and four outside the sampling period). Three individuals were observed between the stones of a waterfall (10:00 - 15:00 h). A recently road-killed adult male was found during the day (11:00 h) in a forest area. Additionally, we observed an individual at rest, coiled over the vegetation at 1.30 m above the ground during the day (16:30 h). All records occurred near watercourses. Abegg et al. (2016) also mention the occurrence of C. brazili in riparian forests. No data on the diet was obtained from the examined specimen. However, as in the other species of the genus, it is likely that C. brazili preys primarily on anurans, mainly hylids ( Dixon et al. 1993). We could observe the following defensive behaviors for C. brazili : head elevation and neck S-coil.

Altitudinal variation.

The maximum altitudinal record for the species was at 2030 m a.s.l. at Pico do Inficionado, Catas Altas, MG ( Bérnils 2009). In the present study, the maximum altitudinal record was at 1600 m a.s.l., in Baependi, MG.

Distribution and habitat.

Central-west, southeast and south of Brazil (Federal District, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul) (Hamdan and Fernandes 2015). This species is thought to live in habitats similar to those of C. flavolineatus and inhabits riverine forests and forest borders near open areas (Hamdan and Fernandes 2015).