Neotropical Biology and Conservation 14(1): 137-141, doi: 10.3897/neotropical.14.e35410
Oviposition observation of Tropidodryas serra (Serpentes: Dipsadidae)
expand article infoEdelcio Muscat‡, Elsie Laura Rotenberg‡, Iberê Farina Machado§
‡ Projeto Dacnis, Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil§ Instituto Boitatá de Etnobiologia e Conservação da Fauna, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

Corresponding author: Edelcio Muscat ( edelciomuscat@terra.com.br )

Academic editor: Ana Maria Leal-Zanchet
© Edelcio Muscat, Elsie Rotenberg, Iberê Farina Machado.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Muscat E, Rotenberg E, Machado IF (2019) Oviposition observation of Tropidodryas serra (Serpentes: Dipsadidae). Neotropical Biology and Conservation 14(1): 137-141. https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.14.e35410
Open Access
Abstract
Tropidodryas serra is an endemic snake from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and despite its wide distribution, little is known about its ecology. Tropidodryas serra is an oviparous snake, but there are few available data on its  reproductive cycle. In this paper, we present the first report of oviposition of T. serra in captivity with successfully hatching. A pregnant female was captured in the area of Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Dacnis Project, Ubatuba-SP, southeastern Brazil, and held captive. The spawning of 7 eggs and the development of offspring were observed. The eggs (measuring 4x1.35 cm in average) hatched in 90 days, with 6 healthy neonates and 1 stillborn. Based on a unique successful hatching of T. serra eggs in captivity, the present study confirmed with naturalistic data reproductive characteristics of the species, such as egg laying in December and low number of atresic eggs, corroborating that the species should present few reproductive events and concentrated throughout the rainy season.
Keywords
Atlantic Forest, atresic eggs, natural history, reproduction, snake