:''Common names: Aruba rattlesnake,U.S. Navy. 1991. Poisonous Snakes of the World. US Govt. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. . Aruba island rattlesnake,Klauber LM. 1997. Rattlesnakes: Their Habitats, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind. Second Edition. First published in 1956, 1972. University of California Press, Berkeley. .'' Cascabel (Papiamento). The Aruba Island rattlesnake (''Crotalus unicolor''), is a

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

pit viper The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . or pit adders, are a subfamily (biology), subfamily of Viperidae, vipers found in Asia and the ...

species endemic to the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

island of

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

, off the coast of

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. It is sometimes still classified as a subspecies of ''

Crotalus durissus ''Crotalus durissus'', known as the South American rattlesnake, tropical rattlesnake,Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. and by #Common names, other names, is a highly venomous snake, ve ...

''.

Description

Moderately sized, this species attains an adult length of approximately , and weighs about . It is light

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

, tan, or almost

pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

in color, reflecting the soil color of its native habitat, with darker brown diamond-shaped markings, but colors may vary from white to apricot, or brown to slate. The markings are sometimes nearly invisible, or can only be seen in a narrow stripe down the middle of the back.

Geographic range

This species is only found on the island of

, making it an

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

species. They exist only in thornscrub and desert habitats on the southeastern half of the island.Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. 2 volumes. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. .

Conservation status

These snakes are found only on the island of Aruba, where they are mostly limited to the rocky, dry southern tip of the island. Due to their extremely limited geographic range, about 230 animals are left in the wild, and the ever encroaching human habitation into their territory (with only about 25 square kilometers left undeveloped), the Aruba Island rattlesnake is among the rarest rattlesnakes in the world. While exporting from the island is illegal, it has no other legal protection on the island either. The snake is now a part of the

Species Survival Plan The American Species Survival Plan or SSP program was developed in 1981 by the (American) Association of Zoos and Aquariums to help ensure the survival of selected species in zoos and aquariums, most of which are threatened or endangered in the w ...

for

captive breeding Captive breeding, also known as captive propagation, is the process of keeping plants or animals in controlled environments, such as wildlife reserves, zoos, Botanical garden, botanic gardens, and other Conservation biology, conservation facilitie ...

Diet

Specimens consume various species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s, and

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

Reproduction

Males reach sexual maturity in four years; females in five. After a gestation period of four months, females give birth to between five and fifteen live young at a time.

References

* van Lidth de Jeude, Theodorus Willem. 1887. ''On a collection of reptiles and fishes from the West-Indies''. Notes from the Leyden Museum, 9: 129-139.

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from1=Q22111315, from2=Q3730272 unicolor Snakes of the Caribbean Reptiles described in 1887 Endemic fauna of Aruba Snakes of Aruba