FIRST REPORT OF THANATOSIS IN Bothrops asper (GARMAN, 1883) (SERPENTES: VIPERIDAE) IN PANAMA

Melquiades Castillo; Edmundo Belton; Ángel Sosa Bartuano; Helio Quintero; Rogemif Daniel Fuentes Magallón

doi:10.22201/fc.25942158e.2024.4.1068

Authors

Melquiades Castillo
Edmundo Belton
Ángel Sosa Bartuano
Helio Quintero
Rogemif Daniel Fuentes Magallón Fundación Los Naturalistas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22201/fc.25942158e.2024.4.1068

Keywords:

Behavior, camouflage, predator, survival, tonic immobility

Abstract

Thanatosis is a defensive behavior in animals that simulates death to avoid attacks from predators. In snakes, it has been documented in several families, including pythonids, colubrids, elapids and viperids, although in America there are only a few records in viperids. We observed thanatosis in a Bothrops asper during its rescue and relocation, the snake showed tonic immobility and other behaviors, pretending to be dead. This is the first documented case for the species.

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