Co-occurring Cuban dwarf boas (Tropidophis) show limited dietary differentiation

Interspecific and intraspecific niche partitioning have been widely documented in sympatric snakes. Size variation and ecological differentiation in co-occurring Tropidophis in Cuba suggest differences in diet. We compared dietary composition and niche breadth among three species of Tropidophis in central Cuba: T. pardalis (n = 13), T. semicinctus (n = 28), and T. melanurus (n = 86; 80 large, 6 small individuals). We found complete overlap in diet composition among T. pardalis , T. semicinctus , and small T. melanurus , all of which specialized on lizards of the genus Anolis . In contrast, large T. melanurus had a distinct diet, consisting mostly of amphibians (95%), particularly the Cuban treefrog ( Osteopilus septentrionalis ; ca. 70%) and two species of toads of the genus Peltophryne (ca. 26%), suggesting an ontogenetic shift in the diet of T. melanurus . The three species of Tropidophis had a narrow trophic niche (B′ ≤ 0.280).