Crotalus unicolor

Crotalus unicolor, or the Aruba Island Rattlesnake, is a venomous pit viper species[4] endemic to the Caribbean island of Aruba, off the coast of Venezuela. It is sometimes still classified as a subspecies of Crotalus durissus.

Aruba rattlesnake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Crotalus
Species:
C. unicolor
Binomial name
Crotalus unicolor
Synonyms
  • Crotalus horridus var. unicolor - van Lidth de Jeude, 1887
  • Crotalus unicolor - Klauber, 1936
  • Crotalus durissus unicolor - Brongersma, 1940
  • Crotalus (Crotalus) durissus unicolor - Peters & Orejas-Miranda, 1970
  • Crotalus unicolor - McCranie, 1986
  • Crotalus durissus unicolor - Campbell & Lamar, 1989[1]
Common names: Aruba rattlesnake,[2] Aruba island rattlesnake,[3] Cascabel (Papiamento).

Description

Moderately sized, this species attains an adult length of approximately 90 cm, and weighs about 1 kilogram.[5] It is light brown, tan, or almost pink in color, reflecting the soil color of its native habitat, with darker brown diamond-shaped markings, but colors may vary from white to apricot, or brown to slate. The markings are sometimes nearly invisible, or can only be seen in a narrow stripe down the middle of the back.

Geographic range

This species is only found on the island of Aruba, making it an endemic species.[3][1] They exist only in thornscrub and desert habitats on the southeastern half of the island.[6]

Conservation status
C. unicolor in captivity.

These snakes are found only on the island of Aruba, where they are mostly limited to the rocky, dry southern tip of the island. Due to their extremely limited geographic range, about 230 animals are left in the wild, and the ever encroaching human habitation into their territory (with only about 25 square kilometers left undeveloped), the Aruba Island rattlesnake is among the rarest rattlesnakes in the world. Unfortunately, while exporting from the island is illegal, it has no other legal protection on the island either. The snake is now a part of the Species Survival Plan for captive breeding.

Diet

Specimens consume various species of rodents, birds, and lizards.

Reproduction
Crotalus unicolor at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Males reach sexual maturity in four years; females in five. After a gestation period of four months, females give birth to between five and fifteen live young at a time.

References
  1. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. U.S. Navy. 1991. Poisonous Snakes of the World. US Govt. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. ISBN 0-486-26629-X.
  3. Klauber LM. 1997. Rattlesnakes: Their Habitats, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind. Second Edition. First published in 1956, 1972. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-21056-5.
  4. "Crotalus durissus unicolor". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
  5. "Aruba Island rattlesnake videos, photos and facts - Crotalus unicolor - ARKive". Archived from the original on 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
  6. Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. 2 volumes. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.
  • van Lidth de Jeude, Theodorus Willem. 1887. On a collection of reptiles and fishes from the West-Indies. Notes from the Leyden Museum, 9: 129-139.
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