Ecuador Viper Expedition
July 2023
A field expedition in the Chocó with the Khamai Foundation looking for the green-blue morph of the Eyelash Palm Pit Viper. We were looking to take scale samples and photographs to gather more data for the separation of species in the Eyelash Viper genus (Bothriechis).
The Eyelash Palm Pitviper, Bothriechis schlegelii, is one of the most stunning species you can find in the cloud forest. Their color is quite variable, and this blue-green adult female was a very lucky find! This was the target species and morph of our expedition, as we were obtaining genetic data that led to the differentiation of five different pit viper species! You can read about it in NatGeo here.
SPECIES HIGHLIGHT
Bothriechis schlegelli
SPECIES HIGHLIGHT
Leptophis bocourti
This Chocoan Parrot-Snake was the first individual photographed in seven years! Near threatened and a rare in the cloud forest, this find was critical for the Khamai Foundation and their Reptiles of Ecuador project. You can see the individual on white background on their Leptophis bocourti page!
BEHAVIOR HIGHLIGHT
Leptodeira ornata & Leptophis bocourti
As our team was about to start our night hike, we stumbled upon something truly extraordinary: a heated battle between an Ornate Cat-Eyed Snake and a juvenile Chocoan Parrot-Snake! While the parrot snake fought valiantly, we watched for two hours as it succumbed to the cat-eyed snake’s venom and was eaten. This was an extremely rare case of “ophiopagy” - when a snake eats another snake. Our team published a paper documenting this strange occurrence.