Ecology of the Pitviper, Bothrops moojeni, in the Brazilian Cerrado

Abstract

Bothrops moojeni is a member of the atrox group that occurs in central and southeastern Brazil and adjacent Paraguay and Argentina. We describe habitat use, diel and seasonal activity, biometry, feeding habits, and reproduction of B. moojeni, based on field studies and analysis of 207 preserved specimens. Bothrops moojeni predominantly uses riparian vegetation in the Cerrado (central Brazilian savannas), such as gallery forests and adjacent wet grasslands, although they occasionally use drier interfluvial areas. Sexes are dimorphic in snout-vent length, relative tail length, relative mass, and relative head length. Main prey types were mammals, frogs, and lizards. There is an ontogenetic dietary shift from ectotherms to endotherms. Prey- predator mass ratio ranged from 0.008-1.079, and prey mass was positively correlated with predator mass. Although prey absolute mass was positively correlated with snake mass, large snakes did not eliminate small prey from their diets. There was an ontogenetic decrease in prey relative mass. Females consumed more endothermic prey than males, and this difference probably reflects size differences. The reproductive cycle is lengthy and seasonal, with recruitment restricted to the rainy season. Fecundity is positively correlated with female body size. Life-history characters of B. moojeni are similar to those of other members of the atrox group, even though B. moojeni occurs in the Cerrado, a drier and more seasonal biome. Bothrops moojeni is a large pitviper from riparian areas in central and southeastern Brazil, throughout the Cerrado morphoclimatic domain (Borges and Araujo, 1998; Campbell and Lamar, 1989; Leloup, 1984). Recent systematic studies indicate that populations of B. moojeni from the Cerrado of southeastern and central Brazil form a monophyletic assemblage within the atrox spe-