Charina

Charina
Charina
Rubber boa, C. bottae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Subfamily: Erycinae
Genus: Charina
Gray, 1849
Synonyms
Common names: rosy boas, rubber boas.[2]

Charina is a genus of nonvenomous boas found in North America and Africa. Four species are currently recognized.[2]

Contents

Geographic range

Found in North America from southwestern Canada south through the western United States into northwestern Mexico. Also found in west and central Africa from Liberia and Sierra Leone to Cameroon (including Bioko Island), the Central African Republic, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the DRC, it is found almost as far east as Lake Kivu.[1]

Species

Species[2] Taxon author[2] Subsp.*[2] Common name[2] Geographic range
C. bottaeT (Blainville, 1835) 0 Rubber boa Southwestern Canada in southeastern British Columbia. The northwestern and western United States in most of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana and Wyoming, northern and central Utah, and as far south as northern Nevada and Monterey County, California.[1][3]
C. reinhardtii (Schlegel, 1848) 0 Calabar ground boa[4] West and central Africa from Liberia and Sierra Leone to Cameroon (including Bioko Island), the Central African Republic, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the DRC, it is found almost as far east as Lake Kivu.[1]
C. trivirgata (Cope, 1861) 2 Rosy boa The United States in southern California and southwestern Arizona. Mexico in the Baja California peninsula and in western Sonora.[1]
C. umbratica Klauber, 1943 0 Southern rubber boa The United States in southern California (Riverside and San Bernardino counties).[3]

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
T) Type species.[1]

Taxonomy

Sources vary on how many species the genus contains. Some consider the rubber boa, C. bottae, to be the sole member of the genus, although recent research has included the rosy boa, C. (Lichanura) trivirgata. In addition, some experts consider the southern rubber boa, C. umbratica to be a subspecies of C. bottae. The strangest inclusion, however, must be that of the Calabar python, C. (Calabaria) reinhardtii, which is found half way around the world from the others.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Charina". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174325. Retrieved 6 July 2008. 
  3. ^ a b Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. 2 volumes. Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. ISBN 0-8014-0463-0.
  4. ^ Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.

Further reading

  • Kluge AG. 1993. Calabaria and the phylogeny of erycine snakes. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 107: 293-351. PDF at University of Michigan Library. Accessed 20 July 2008.

External links


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