The Terciopelo (Bothrops asper) is one of the largest pit vipers. It reaches a length of 2.5 m and can weigh 6 kg. The Terciopelo is found at low to moderate elevations from northeast Mexico southward through Central America, and into South America where it occurs at elevations up to 2600 meters in Colombian and Ecuadorian Andes, and Venezuela. The large size, large fangs, substantial venom yield and the number of bites it delivers to humans are responsible its reputation. However, like other venomous snakes, it avoids confrontation with humans. In a recent paper, Loaiza-Lange and colleagues examine its diet in Ecuador. The abstract is below.
(Abstract) Thoroughly documenting prey items and diet composition is crucial for understanding a predator’s role in the ecosystem. In gape restricted predators, such as snakes, documenting and analyzing the type and size of the prey is important to interpret their ecological role. We describe the diet patterns of a species of venomous snake, the Terciopelo pit viper (Bothrops asper), from its Ecuadorian populations. Examining the gastrointestinal contents of museum specimens collected over an extensive area of the Pacific lowlands of Ecuador, we encountered 69 identifiable prey items from four major taxonomic groups (amphibians, centipedes, mammals, and reptiles). We evaluated the observed composition of prey to check for differences between sexes and size-classes. To complement our observations of the Terciopelo species complex throughout their distribution, we carried out a systematic literature review. Our data show an ontogenetic shift in diet, with a transition from more diverse diet in juveniles towards a mammal-specialized diet in adults, and distinct proportion of prey taxa between the sexes in the juvenile size class.
Citation
Loaiza-Lange A, Székely D, Torres-Carvajal O, Tinoco N, Salazar-Valenzuela D, Székely P. 2023. Feeding ecology of the Terciopelo pit viper snake (Bothrops asper) in Ecuador. PeerJ 11:e14817
