43 hectares of forested rock 33 km off the São Paulo coast, holding an estimated 2,000 to 4,000 golden lanceheads and nothing like them anywhere else on Earth. The island was cut off by rising sea level and the snakes were left with no ground prey, so they went up into the trees and specialised in migrating birds, mainly the southern house wren and the Chilean elaenia, evolving venom fast enough to kill a bird before it can fly off. The name comes from queimada, burning, from attempts to clear it for bananas. A lighthouse went up in 1909 and was automated in the 1920s, which ended human habitation. The Brazilian Navy now closes it entirely: only the Navy and researchers vetted by the Chico Mendes Institute may land. Do not go. This is a look-at-from-the-boat entry and the species is critically endangered.
São Paulo coast, Brazil
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