DIET OF THE FALSE SMOOTH SNAKE, MACROPROTODON-CUCULLATUS (SERPENTES, COLUBRIDAE) IN THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN AREA

Based on the analysis of the digestive tracts of 158 specimens, the di et has been established for Macroprotodon cucullatus, one of the Europ ean colubrid species with poorly-known biology, The specimens belong t o three subspecies, M. c. ibericus (Iberian Peninsula), M. c. brevis ( Morocco) and M. c. mauritanicus (Balearic Islands). The species feeds exclusively on vertebrates, mainly reptiles, and mostly long-bodied pr ey which are burrowers or live under rocks (Blanus, Chalcides). Some a spects of its morphology and feeding habits, in addition to our genera l field observations, suggest that it is not nocturnal, but rather liv es under rocks. In comparison with other Mediterranean colubrids, this species feeds with very low frequency, taking relatively long prey wi th great biomass. In the specimens from the Balearic Islands the body length and feeding habits appear to have changed in a brief period, no w being the largest of the distribution area of the species and basing its diet on small mammals. In the Iberian Peninsula and in northweste rn Africa, there is no appreciable ontogenetic or sexual variation in the diet, since the different ages and sexes feed principally on amphi sbaenians.