Feliciano Rivera, Fabián A.

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    Comparison of northern and southern cave populations and foraging ecology of the Puerto Rican Boa, 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 (𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, Reinhart 1843) (Reptilia: Squamata: Boidae)
    (2023-07-07) Feliciano Rivera, Fabián A.; Puente Rolón, Alberto R.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Reynolds, R. Graham; Bird Picó, Fernando J.; Santos Flores, Carlos J.; Department of Biology; Figueroa Robles, Iris
    The Puerto Rican boa (𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴) is an endemic snake species of Puerto Rico and its currently endangered because of poaching, capture pets, malicious killing, and habitat destruction due to urban development, among others. This species uses caves in some parts of its range as shelter from climate conditions, for thermoregulation, and to prey on bats. Few cave populations have been studied, and importance of these cave populations to the conservation of this species has been suggested but not thoroughly evaluated. In this study we characterized and compared the morphology of four cave populations and estimate their population size via mark-recapture method. In addition, we compared the foraging ecology of the snakes in “Culebrones” cave with the natural hunting structures and with artificial perch structures. During the study, we captured 40 boas in “Culebrones” cave, 115 in “Matos” cave, 85 in “Malano” cave, 71 in “Adrover” cave, and 10 boas in “Cucarachas” cave. Morphological values for each cave were similar, suggesting a similar size and age class using these caves. “Adrover” cave had the densest snake population in both open and closed capture-mark-recapture models, however what is causing this density difference remains unknown. The addition of artificial vines to the entrance of “Culebrones” cave had a positive effect on the number of snakes that visited the cave to hunt. Prey handling was longer when snakes hunt on rock walls when compared to vines, suggesting the importance for vines as hunting perches. More studies should be performed on cave populations to determine why some caves can maintain a higher density than others. In addition, continued monitoring of the foraging ecology in “Culebrones” cave should be conducted to see if the addition of artificial vines can be an efficient strategy to benefit the snake population there.