Reptilia, Colubridae, Philodryas aestivus: Distribution extension.

CELSI CINTIA; MONSERRAT ANA LAURA; KACOLIRIS FEDERICO

Check List: journal on species lists and distribution

Año: 2008 vol. 4 p. 12 - 14

1809-127X

Philodryas aestivus is a Neotropical snake, distributed in South America in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. In Buenos Aires province (Argentina) there are only isolated records restricted to the northeastern part of the province and Sierra de la Ventana in the south. In spring of 2006, we found an adult green snake in the Atlantic coastal zone of southern Buenos Aires, ca. 170 km southeast from its previously known southernmost distribution area of Sierra de La Ventana. We observed the specimen on a bare-soil sandy plain at the Quequén Salado River mouth, next to a marine beach, 5 km east from Marisol village (Partido de Coronel Dorrego). This record could indicate a new southern limit for the species distribution range, and provides information on the snake’s presence in coastal Pampean environments, a type of habitat for which no previous reports were available in Argentina. Given that the tributary watercourses of the Quequén Salado River come from southern Buenos Aires mountain region, the new record suggests that this river could be acting as a fauna corridor, connecting the mountain zone with the Pampean coastal zone.