- reptile conservation

WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNAL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
IRCF REPTILES
& AMPHIBIANS • 22(2):81–82
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
• VOL15, NO
4 • DEC 2008 189
• JUN 2015
IRCF
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
C O N S E R V AT I O N A N D N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y
T A B L E
O F
C O N T E N T S
INTRODUCED
FEATURE ARTICLES
SPECIES
Records of Dicephalic (Two-headed) Snakes
from India
 Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin:
On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer
190
 The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada:
A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson
198
RESEARCH ARTICLES
 The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry
Amit Sayyed
 The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida
............................................. Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky
Wildlife Protection and Research Society, Satara, Maharashtra ([email protected])
204
212
CONSERVATION ALERT
I
Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220
herein report four World’s
dicephalic
snakes from India. Three
More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223
were Russell’s Vipers
russelii)
and the
fourth was
 The(Daboia
“Dow Jones Index”
of Biodiversity
...........................................................................................................................................
225
a Trinket Snake (Coelognathus
helenus),
a
species
for
which
HUSBANDRY
dicephaly is reportedhere
Captivefor
Carethe
of thefirst
Centraltime.
Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226
One two-headed Russell’s Viper (Fig. 1) was captured on
PROFILE
23 July 2006 by local
villagers in the Kheri District, Uttar
 Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234
Pradesh. This snake moved very slowly and it did not respond
C O M M E NIt
T Adied
R Y in the captivity of villageven after being perturbed.
 The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238
ers on 27 July 2006 (Mishra 2006). A second two-headed
juvenile Russell’s BViper
O O K (Fig.
R E V I 2)
E Wwas caught on 14 August
 Threatened
the World
edited by S.N.
Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox,
2008 by a snake catcher
on aAmphibians
rescue ofcall
at Saswad
Taluka
R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243
Purandar (18°20’27”N, 74°2’18”E), Pune, Maharashtra.
This snake died within
a day. The specimen
was deposited
in
Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245
 CONSERVATION
RESEARCH REPORTS:
 Zoological
NATURAL HISTORY
Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247
the collection of the
SurveyRESEARCH
of IndiaREPORTS:
(ZSI) at Pune
NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248
(R/1038). Another
two-headed
juvenile Russell’s Viper (Fig.
 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251
FOCUS
ON CONSERVATION:
Project
Can Support ............................................................................................... 252
3) was found on 6July
2013
during a rescueAcall
atYou
Bastora
near Mapusa (15°35’0”N, 73°49’7”E), Bastora Goa. The
snake was turned over to the local forestry department, where
it died after two days in captivity.
Back Cover. Michael Kern
Shannon
Plummer.
A juvenile Trinket Snake (Figs.Front
4 &Cover.
5) was
caught
on 19
Totat et velleseque audant mo
Totat et velleseque audant mo
February 2014 during a rescue callestibus
by local
snake friends at
estibus inveliquo velique rerchil
inveliquo velique rerchil
erspienimus,
quos accullabo.
Ilibus
erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus
Kiroli Chakan (18°43’6”N, 73°50’56”E),
Pune,
Maharashtra.
aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum
fugiatis maionsequat eumque
moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur ma derrovitae voluptam, as
aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum
fugiatis maionsequat eumque
moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur
ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos
accullabo.
Fig. 2. A dicephalic Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) captured in 2008.
Total length was 228.6 mm; distance from the rostrals to the bifurcation
was 13 mm. Photographs by Krushna Ghule.
After examination, it was taken to the Pimpri-Chinchwad
Zoo in Pune. An x-ray (Fig. 5) showed that the heads separate at a fork in the spine; the anatomy of this snake otherwise
appears to be normal. Keeping this snake at the zoo provided
an opportunity to examine its behavior. The snake is unable
to move easily and appears to have a great deal of difficulty
deciding in which direction to go.
Cunningham (1937) used the term “polycephaly” for
this type of disorder in animals, which results from abnormal
Fig. 1. A dicephalic Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) captured in 2006.
Total length was 252 mm. Photograph by Krishna Mishra.
Copyright © 2015. Amit Sayyed. All rights reserved.
81
INTRODUCED SPECIES
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 22(2):81–82 • JUN 2015
development. The word is derived from the Greek “poly-” (=
many) and kephalé (= head) and encompasses both bicephaly
and dicephaly, either referring to two-headedness. Dicephaly
is seen occasionally in reptiles, with the most commonly
observed two-headed animals being turtles and snakes (Anina
2003). About 400 instances of dicephalic snakes have been
recorded (Matz 2001).
Each head of a dicephalic animal has its own brain, and
they somehow share control of the organs and limbs, although
the specific structure of the connection varies. Animals often
move in a disoriented fashion, with the two brains unable
to coordinate control. Dicephalic individuals rarely survive
in nature, largely attributable to problems with directional
movement and prey capture (Derickson 1927). However,
two-headed turtles and snakes have survived for more than
a few years in captivity. The record is held by a snake at the
World Aquarium, an interactive animal exhibition and rehabilitation center located in the City Museum in St. Louis,
Missouri, United States. “We,” a dicephalic albino Western
Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus), died naturally after eight
years (Leonard 2007).
Fig. 3. A dicephalic Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) captured in 2013.
Total length was 234 mm. Photograph by Amrut Singh.
Acknowledgments
I thank Dr. Hemant Ghate, Dr. Anil Mahabal, Anilkumar
Khaire, and Tejas Khaire for their support; Dr. Amit Kamat
for performing the x-ray of Coelognathus helenus; Krushna
Ghule, Subhas Ghule, and Bapusaheb Sonawane for allowing
me to observe two-headed snakes; and Krishna Mishra and
Amrut Singh for providing me with information and photographs of Daboia russelii.
Fig. 4. A dicephalic Trinket Snake (Coelognathus helenus) captured in
2014. Total length was 426.7 mm; distance from the rostrals to the bifurcation was 30 mm. Photographs by Bapusaheb Sonawane.
Literature Cited
Anina, S. 2003. Two-headed creatures. 29 November 2003. Pravda.ru. <http://
english.pravda.ru/science/tech/29-11-2003/4201-anomaly-0>.
Cunningham, B. 1937. Axial Bifurcation in Serpents. Duke University Press,
Durham, North Carolina.
Derickson, S.H. 1927. A twin turtle. The Science Monthly 25:562–565.
Leonard, C. 2007. ‘We’ the 2-headed snake’s long odd life ends. 20 June 2007.
Associated Press. <http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19334041/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/we--headed-snakes-long-odd-life-ends/#.VQBLyihQVQ>.
Matz, G. 2001. Tératologie, pp. 106–107. In: R. Bauchot (ed.), Serpents. Artémis,
Paris, France.
Fig. 5. X-ray of a dicephalic Trinket Snake (Coelognathus helenus) captured
in 2014. Photograph by Amit Kamat.
Mishra, K.K. 2006. Two-headed snake found. This is a Siamese twins [sic] not
evolution. 23 July 2006. Dudhwa Jungles. <http://dudhwa.blogspot.com>.
82