On Land: Reptiles

Red-bellied racer

Alsophis rufiventris

Jumplinks:

About

The only snake native to Saba, the red-bellied racer — endemic to a small group of islands in the Lesser Antilles — is entirely harmless to humans and is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Once found on multiple nearby islands in the Lesser Antilles, the racer today lives in only two places in the world: Saba, and Sint Eustatius (known locally as Statia) — adding up to just 11% of its original range. Though small in size, the racer plays a big role in island ecosystems by regulating lizard and amphibian populations.

Driven to extinction by invasive mongoose on the other islands it once inhabited, the racer faces three primary predators on Saba today: rats, domestic cats, and people who mistake it as dangerous. While the Saban racer population is thought to be stable at present, concern still remains and your help is needed: If you see a racer on Saba, 1) lucky you!, and 2) please snap a photo and upload it to iNaturalist, where it's shared with researchers and conservation managers who can help to ensure better protections.

Header image by Kai Wulf.

This species is:
Endemic

Why that matters:
Endemic species aren’t just native, they’re species found nowhere else in the world — and high rates of endemism are part of what make islands like Saba so special. In fact, islands hold the greatest concentration of biodiversity on Earth. And when we consider that 75% of all recent bird, reptile, amphibian, and mammal extinctions on our planet have happened on islands, the need to better protect these incredible places is clear.

Credit: @zahnerphoto, iNaturalist (CC-BY). Little is known about the racer, which makes it an important species to study — a task that its excellent camouflage makes challenging.

iNaturalist observations

Red-bellied racer

iNaturalist user @djscho (CC-BY)

iNaturalist user @arkantor (CC-BY-NC-SA)

iNaturalist user @lca (CC-BY-NC)

Saba Island Map and Pins: iNat Taxonomy ID 30119

Where locals, researchers, and visitors have seen this species.

This map shows geotagged observations of this species made on iNaturalist, the world’s largest community-science platform.

iNat depends on people like you. By uploading photos of species you see in the wild, you can easily learn more about them — while also contributing critical data used by scientists and conservation-managers around the globe.

See something odd?

Observations of land species in water:
Connectivity can affect how accurate location services are, and in the case of endangered species, location is often automatically obscured.
Missing observations:
Your help is needed to collect more data for this species!

Ask a Scientist

Question: As a herpetologist, what do you tell people who are afraid of snakes?

Answer: Snakes can make people nervous (with good reason, given that many species have venom that can be dangerous to humans), but snakes are typically just as nervous around humans as we are around them! The red-bellied racer does not pose a threat to humans because its mild venom is adapted to the lizards that it eats. If you come across a snake on Saba, or anywhere else, it's good practice just to observe it from a distance to avoid causing the snake — and yourself — any undue stress!

Dr. Rayna Bell
Curator of Herpetology and Islands 2030 Co-Director, California Academy of Sciences