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Hobart M. Smith - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Experiments on Chemical Control of Behavior in Brown Tree Snakes
2007Co-Authors: David Chiszar, Gordon H. Rodda, Hobart M. SmithAbstract:The brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis), accidentally introduced on Guam shortly after World War 11, is the target of extensive efforts aimed at reducing populations and preventing their spread to other Pacific islands. Chemical attractants and repellents have been investigated, and this paper presents an overview of current knowledge. In particular, chemical cues that have strong effects in laboratory tests have had only modest (though significant) effects in field tests on Guam. Reasons for the different outcomes of laboratory and field studies are discussed along with recommendations for the redesign of laboratory experiments.
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Response of Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) to Mammalian Blood: Whole Blood, Serum, and Cellular Residue
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 2001Co-Authors: David Chiszar, Thomas M Dunn, Patrick Stark, Hobart M. SmithAbstract:Brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) responded with more tongue flicks to blood (from rabbits, rats, and mice) than to water. When rat blood was centrifuged at 3500 rpm for 5 min, separating serum from cellular residue, snakes responded strongly to serum but not to cellular residue.
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Response to Rodent Saliva by Two Species of Rodentiophagous Snakes
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 1997Co-Authors: David Chiszar, William Lukas, Hobart M. SmithAbstract:Brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) and prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) responded with higher rates of tongue flicking to rodent saliva than to water. Both materials were presented on cotton-tipped applicators touched gently to the snakes' lips. Rattlesnakes also struck more frequently at applicators bearing saliva than at control applicators. Since rodents frequently lick themselves during bouts of grooming behavior, saliva is certainly a component of the chemicals associated with rodent integuments. It is concluded that this association has given rise in rodentiophagous predators to a sensitivity to saliva or to salivary components.
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Response of brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) to human blood
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 1993Co-Authors: David Chiszar, Thomas M Dunn, Hobart M. SmithAbstract:Ten specimens of Boiga irregularis were presented with clean or bloody tampons. The latter were used by women during menses. Trial duration was 60 sec, intertrial interval was 24 hr, and the dependent variable was rate of tongue flicking (a measure of chemosensory investigation). Bloody tampons elicited significantly more tongue flicking than did control tampons. An additional snake is shown attacking and ingesting a soiled tampon, confirming that chemosensory interest was associated with predatory behavior.
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stimulus control of predatory behavior in the brown tree snake Boiga irregularis iv effect of mammalian blood
Behavioral and Neural Biology, 1992Co-Authors: David Chiszar, Hobart M. SmithAbstract:Brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) from Guam were exposed to mammalian (Rattus norvegicus) blood on cotton-tipped applicators. Water and other control substances were similarly presented. All trials lasted 60 s, and the dependent variable was the number of tongue flicks emitted by the snake during the trial. In five experiments, B. irregularis responded with greater numbers of tongue flicks to blood than to control substances. This is the first study to reveal an ophidian response to internal chemicals of potential prey organisms.
David Chiszar - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Experiments on Chemical Control of Behavior in Brown Tree Snakes
2007Co-Authors: David Chiszar, Gordon H. Rodda, Hobart M. SmithAbstract:The brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis), accidentally introduced on Guam shortly after World War 11, is the target of extensive efforts aimed at reducing populations and preventing their spread to other Pacific islands. Chemical attractants and repellents have been investigated, and this paper presents an overview of current knowledge. In particular, chemical cues that have strong effects in laboratory tests have had only modest (though significant) effects in field tests on Guam. Reasons for the different outcomes of laboratory and field studies are discussed along with recommendations for the redesign of laboratory experiments.
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Response of Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) to Mammalian Blood: Whole Blood, Serum, and Cellular Residue
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 2001Co-Authors: David Chiszar, Thomas M Dunn, Patrick Stark, Hobart M. SmithAbstract:Brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) responded with more tongue flicks to blood (from rabbits, rats, and mice) than to water. When rat blood was centrifuged at 3500 rpm for 5 min, separating serum from cellular residue, snakes responded strongly to serum but not to cellular residue.
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Response to Rodent Saliva by Two Species of Rodentiophagous Snakes
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 1997Co-Authors: David Chiszar, William Lukas, Hobart M. SmithAbstract:Brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) and prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) responded with higher rates of tongue flicking to rodent saliva than to water. Both materials were presented on cotton-tipped applicators touched gently to the snakes' lips. Rattlesnakes also struck more frequently at applicators bearing saliva than at control applicators. Since rodents frequently lick themselves during bouts of grooming behavior, saliva is certainly a component of the chemicals associated with rodent integuments. It is concluded that this association has given rise in rodentiophagous predators to a sensitivity to saliva or to salivary components.
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grooming in the brown tree snake Boiga irregularis
Bulletin of the psychonomic society, 1993Co-Authors: Thomas M Dunn, David ChiszarAbstract:Brown tree snakes, Boiga irregularis, exhibited an elevated frequency of jaw rubbing when a small quantity of petroleum jelly was placed on their lips. Jaw rubbing has the effect of removing foreign material from the lips, and it represents a behavior that cleans and maintains a particular part of the body surface. Although few such behaviors have been reported in reptiles, we suspect that many exist and simply have gone unnoticed because herpetologists have attached no theoretical significance to them.
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Response of brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) to human blood
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 1993Co-Authors: David Chiszar, Thomas M Dunn, Hobart M. SmithAbstract:Ten specimens of Boiga irregularis were presented with clean or bloody tampons. The latter were used by women during menses. Trial duration was 60 sec, intertrial interval was 24 hr, and the dependent variable was rate of tongue flicking (a measure of chemosensory investigation). Bloody tampons elicited significantly more tongue flicking than did control tampons. An additional snake is shown attacking and ingesting a soiled tampon, confirming that chemosensory interest was associated with predatory behavior.
Bruce A. Kimball - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Feminization of Male Brown Treesnake Methyl Ketone Expression via Steroid Hormone Manipulation
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 2018Co-Authors: M. Rockwell Parker, Saumya M. Patel, Jennifer E. Zachry, Bruce A. KimballAbstract:Pheromones are useful tools for the management of invasive invertebrates, but have proven less successful in field applications for invasive vertebrates. The brown treesnake, Boiga irregularis , is an invasive predator that has fundamentally altered the ecology of Guam. The development of control tools to manage Boiga remains ongoing. Skin-based, lipophilic pheromone components facilitate mating in brown treesnakes, with females producing the same long-chain, saturated and monounsaturated (ketomonoene) methyl ketones known to function as pheromones in garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis . Boiga also express novel, diunsaturated methyl ketones (ketodienes) with a purported function as a sex pheromone. In our study, we implanted 17 β-estradiol in adult male brown treesnakes in order to manipulate methyl ketone expression as sex attractants, an effect that would mirror findings with garter snakes. Specifically, estrogen promoted production of two ketomonoenes, pentatriaconten-2-one and hexatriaconten-2-one, and suppressed production of one ketodiene, heptatriacontadien-2-one. In bioassays, estrogen-implanted males elicited tongue-flicking and chin rubbing behavior from unmanipulated males, though the responses were weaker than those elicited by females. On Guam, wild males exhibited greatest responses to whole female skin lipid extracts and only weak responses to the methyl ketone fractions from females and implanted males. Our results suggest that sex identity in brown treesnakes may be conferred by the ratio of ketomonoenes (female) to ketodienes (male) from skin lipids and may be augmented by a sex-specific endocrine signal (estradiol). However, a blend of long-chain methyl ketones alone is not sufficient to elicit maximal reproductive behaviors in male Boiga .
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for the brown tree snake Boiga irregularis
2016Co-Authors: Shem D. Unger, Erin F. Abernethy, Stacey L. Lance, Rochelle R. Beasley, Bruce A. Kimball, Thomas W. Mcauliffe, Kenneth L. Jones, Olin E RhodesAbstract:polymorphic microsatellite markers for the brown tree snake Boiga irregularis Unger et al
Nikolai L. Orlov - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic range evolution in cat-eyed snakes, Boiga (Serpentes: Colubridae)
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2020Co-Authors: Jeffrey L. Weinell, Nikolai L. Orlov, Anthony J. Barley, Cameron D. Siler, Natalia B. Ananjeva, Jamie R. Oaks, Frank T. Burbrink, Rafe M. BrownAbstract:Abstract The genus Boiga includes 35, primarily arboreal snake species distributed from the Middle East to Australia and many islands in the western Pacific, with particularly high species diversity in South-East Asia. Despite including the iconic mangrove snakes (Boiga dendrophila complex) and the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis; infamous for avian extinctions on small islands of the Pacific), species-level phylogenetic relationships and the biogeographic history of this ecologically and morphologically distinct clade are poorly understood. In this study, we sequenced mitochondrial and nuclear DNA for 24 Boiga species and used these data to estimate a robust phylogenetic inference, in order to (1) test the hypothesis that Boiga is monophyletic, (2) evaluate the validity of current species-level taxonomy and (3) examine whether geographic range evolution in Boiga is consistent with expectations concerning dispersal and colonization of vertebrates between continents and islands. Our results support the prevailing view that most dispersal events are downstream – from continents to oceanic islands – but we also identify a role for upstream dispersal from oceanic islands to continents. Additionally, the novel phylogeny of Boiga presented here is informative for updating species-level taxonomy within the genus.
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A New Species of Genus Boiga (Serpentes: Colubridae: Colubrinae) from Sri Lanka
Russian Journal of Herpetology, 2013Co-Authors: N. M. Wijesena, V. A. M. P. K. Samarawickrama, Nikolai L. OrlovAbstract:A new species of genus Boiga from Sri Lanka is described. According to its morphological characters, Boiga ranawanei is related to B. ceylonensis and B. beddomei and could be combined in one group with the following species: B. ceylonensis , B. beddomei , B. forsteni , and B. barnesi .
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on the status of Boiga ocellata kroon 1973 with the designation of a neotype for Boiga siamensis nootpand 1971 serpentes colubridae
Russian Journal of Herpetology, 2013Co-Authors: Olivier S G Pauwels, Gernot Vogel, Patrick David, Lawan Chanhome, Tanya Chanard, Nikolai L. OrlovAbstract:The morphologies of 164 adders ( Vipera berus berus ) were analyzed in order to assess if morphological differences occur between the Northern and the Italian clades. Pholidosis and some corporal proportions were measured, corresponding to 17 parameters. Several parameters show significant differences between clades (e.g., subcaudals, labials, sublabials, parietal scales). Moreover, discriminant analyses separate both clades with high degrees of accuracy of a correct classifying.
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New Records and Data on the Poorly Known Snakes of Vietnam
Russian Journal of Herpetology, 2013Co-Authors: Nikolai L. Orlov, Sergei A. Ryabov, Van Sang Nguyen, Nguen Quang TruongAbstract:Data on the new records of rare snakes of Vietnam are presented including morphological characteristics and geographical distribution; extensive description of new records of snakes belonging to genera Liopeltis Fitzinger, 1843; Boiga Fitzinger, 1826, and Trimeresurus Lacepede, 1804 is provided. Paper included annotated list of rare snakes of Vietnam. Eight species and subspecies of snakes we recorded for the first time in Vietnam; 42 snake species we refer to rare and poorly known.
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A New Species of the Genus Boiga (Serpentes, Colubridae, Colubrinae) from Tanahjampea Island and Description of «Black Form» of Boiga cynodon Complex from Sumatra (Indonesia)
Russian Journal of Herpetology, 2013Co-Authors: Nikolai L. Orlov, Sergei A. RyabovAbstract:Present article consists of three parts: 1. The description of a new species of the genus Boiga is based on the morphometric examination of 8 adult specimens (5 males and 3 females) from the Tanahjampea island (Sulawesi Selatan Province, Indonesia). Snakes were collected in 1999 and kept at the Tula Exotarium (Russia), and later were transferred to the collection of Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg for further examination. Moreover, for the analysis of the coloration several dozens of live individuals of this species were studied (including juveniles). Also, a comparative analysis of the new species with all the species of the Boiga genus of the Sunda Archipelago (Indonesia) and southern Indochina was carried out: Boiga cynodon , B. dendrophila ssp., B. drapiezii , B. irregularis , B. jaspidea , B. multomaculata , B. nigriceps , B. cyanea , B. guangxiensis , B. ocellata , B. saengsomi . 2. A detailed description of an unusual color form of Boiga cf. cynodon «black form» collected in 1999 from the island of Sumatra (Bengkulu Province, Indonesia) is given. Comparison of this record with known literature data from Southeast Asia is discussed. 3. A complete annotated list of all the species of Boiga genus is presented.
Karthikeyan Vasudevan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Phylogeny and conservation status of the Indian egg-eater snake, Elachistodon westermanni Reinhardt, 1863 (Serpentes, Colubridae)
Amphibia-Reptilia, 2018Co-Authors: Ashwini Venkatanarayana Mohan, Avinash C. Visvanathan, Karthikeyan VasudevanAbstract:The Indian egg-eater ( Elachistodon westermanni ) is a monotypic species of the Genus Elachistodon distributed across the Indian sub-continent. In Africa, there are 13 species of egg-eating snakes of the Genus Dasypeltis . These two genera, Elachistodon and Dasypeltis were thought to be closely related due to similar diet specialization, and shared biogeographic history between the Indian sub-continent and the continent of Africa. In our study, we amplified three mitochondrial genes and one nuclear gene from E. westermanni and reconstructed molecular phylogeny utilizing published sequences to understand the evolutionary relationships between the African, and the Indian egg-eating snakes. We used morphological characters to reinforce our inferences on phylogenetic relationships. We show that the Indian egg-eater is sister to cat snakes of the Genus Boiga , and it does not share recent ancestry with the African egg-eating snakes. Morphological character states point at similarities between Elachistodon and Dasypeltis only in characters associated with their feeding behaviour. Elachistodon westermanni was similar to the Boiga spp. in several other morphological characters, and we provisionally assign E. westermanni under the genus Boiga . Compilation of records of E. westermanni across the Indian sub-continent over the years revealed a positive “Lazarus” effect. We conclude that, the egg-eating behaviour and the associated morphological characters in the snake genera Dasypeltis and Elachistodon are a result of convergent evolution. Based on the conservation status of E. westermanni , it could serve as a flagship species to conserve important wildlife habitats that are being lost rapidly in India.
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Phylogeny and conservation status of the Indian egg-eater snake, Elachistodon westermanni Reinhardt, 1863 (Serpentes, Colubridae): Supplementary material
2018Co-Authors: Ashwini Venkatanarayana Mohan, Avinash C. Visvanathan, Karthikeyan VasudevanAbstract:The Indian egg-eater (Elachistodon westermanni) is a monotypic species of the Genus Elachistodon distributed across the Indian sub-continent. In Africa, there are 13 species of egg-eating snakes of the Genus Dasypeltis. These two genera, Elachistodon and Dasypeltis were thought to be closely related due to similar diet specialization, and shared biogeographic history between the Indian sub-continent and the continent of Africa. In our study, we amplified three mitochondrial genes and one nuclear gene from E. westermanni and reconstructed molecular phylogeny utilizing published sequences to understand the evolutionary relationships between the African, and the Indian egg-eating snakes. We used morphological characters to reinforce our inferences on phylogenetic relationships. We show that the Indian egg-eater is sister to a set of cat snakes of the Genus Boiga, and it does not share recent ancestry with the African egg-eating snakes. Morphological character states point at similarities between Elachistodon and Dasypeltis only in characters associated with their feeding behaviour. Elachistodon westermanni was similar to the Boiga spp. in several other morphological characters, and we provisionally assign E. westermanni under the genus Boiga. Compilation of records of E. westermanni across the Indian sub-continent over the years revealed a positive "Lazarus" effect. We conclude that, the egg-eating behaviour and the associated morphological characters in the snake genera Dasypeltis and Elachistodon are a result of convergent evolution. Based on the conservation status of E. westermanni, it could serve as a flagship species to conserve important wildlife habitats that are being lost rapidly in India