''Alsophis sibonius'', the Dominica racer, Dominican racer, or Antilles racer, is a species of snake

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the Caribbean island of Dominica.

Description

It can reach nearly a meter in length. It feeds on

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia al ...

s and small rodents. It rarely bites humans, but may release a foul-smelling (though harmless)

cloacal In animal anatomy, a cloaca ( ), plural cloacae ( or ), is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles and birds, ...

secretion when disturbed.

Taxonomy

Along with ''

Alsophis manselli ''Alsophis manselli'', the Montserrat racer, is a species of snake endemic to the Caribbean island of Montserrat. Description The Montserrat racer can reach nearly a meter in length. It feeds on lizards and small rodents. It rarely bites hu ...

'' from Montserrat, it was previously considered a subspecies of ''

Alsophis antillensis ''Alsophis antillensis'', the Guadeloupe racer, Antilles racer, or Leeward racer, is a species of snake endemic to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. Description It can reach nearly a meter in length. It feeds on lizards and small rodents. I ...

''.Gomès, R., Dewynter, M., Henderson, R.W. & Powell, R. 2016. Alsophis antillensis (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T190566A115325668. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T190566A71748196.en. Downloaded on 01 May 2021.

References

Alsophis Snakes of the Caribbean Reptiles of Dominica Endemic fauna of Dominica Reptiles described in 1879 Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope {{Dipsadinae-stub