Sexual dimorphism and reproduction in two poorly known snake species of the Families Cylindrophiidae and Xenopeltidae

Despite their commercial importance in many parts of the world, the basic biology of many tropical snakes remains poorly understood. We gathered data on two species of semifossorial snakes – Cylindophis ruffus (N = 20) and Xenopeltis unicolor (N = 92) collected for the commercial trade in meat near Cirebon, West Java. The sample of harvested specimens was strongly male biased in both taxa but differed depending upon the month of collection. Male X. unicolor were larger than females, but there was no apparent sexual dimorphism in C. ruffus. Enlarged ovarian follicles and testes in certain months and not others (e.g. June and July) suggests strong seasonality in reproductive timing. Despite the small sample sizes, our data provide more detail on these topics than has been available in earlier literature.