Saint Croix racer

The Saint Croix racer is a possibly extinct species of snake in the family Colubridae that is endemic to the island of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands.

Etymology

The specific name, sanctaecrucis, refers to the island of Saint Croix, on which the holotype was collected.

Description

B. sanctaecrucis may attain a snout-to-vent length of. It has smooth dorsal scales, which are arranged in 17 rows at midbody. The holotype has a total length of, which includes a tail long.
B. sanctaecrucis is oviparous.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of B. sanctaerucis is xeric forest.

Conservation

B. sanctaecrucis is feared extinct, as it has not been recorded in over 100 years since the holotype was collected. St. Croix is a densely populated island, and the species is a fairly large snake. If it is extinct, the most probable causes were due to predation from introduced mongooses and deforestation of its habitat. However, recent rediscoveries of other Caribbean reptiles that were also thought extinct bring hope that a small population of B. sanctaecrucis survives somewhere in St. Croix.