Corallus ruschenbergerii

Corallus ruschenbergerii
Corallus ruschenbergerii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Subfamily: Boinae
Genus: Corallus
Species: C. ruschenbergerii
Binomial name
Corallus ruschenbergerii
(Cope, 1876)
Synonyms
  • Xiphosoma ruschenbergerii - Cope, 1875
  • Xiphosoma ruschenbergii - Boulenger, 1893
  • Corallus cookei var. ruschenbergi - Boettger, 1898
  • Boa ruschenbergii - Stejneger, 1901
  • Boa salmonidia - Briceño-Rossi, 1934
  • Corallus ruschenbergerii - Henderson, 1997[1]
Common names: Central American tree boa, Common Tree Boa, Trinidad tree boa.

Corallus ruschenbergerii is a non-venomous boa species found in lower Central America and northern South America. No subspecies are currently recognized.[2]

Contents

Description

This is one of the largest members of the genus Corallus with adults reaching up to 2 m in length. The colors are typically shades of yellow, brown or gray, although populations on Trinidad and Tobago are often a patternless pure bronze.[3]

Geographic range

Found in Lower Central America in southwestern Costa Rica (south of 10° N) and Panama, including Isla del Rey, Isla Contadora, Isla de Cébaco and Isla Suscantupu. In South America it occurs in Colombia east of the Andes, north of the Cordillera Central and north of the Cordillera Oriental, northern Venezuela north of the Cordillera de Mérida and in the drainage of the Río Orinoco, north and west of the Guiana Shield, east of the Orinoco Delta. Also found on Isla Margarita, Trinidad and Tobago. The type locality given is "Panama."[1]

Feeding

The primary diet consists on rodents and other small mammals, as well as birds and bats.[3]

Captivity

Still fairly rare in captivity, this species is only recently becoming more common in the United States.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b 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. ^ "Corallus ruschenbergerii". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=634795. Retrieved 14 July 2008. 
  3. ^ a b c Stafford PJ, Henderson RJ. 1996. Kaleidoscopic Tree Boas: The Genus Corallus of Tropical America. Krieger Publishing Company. 120 pp. ISBN 0894649752.

Further reading

  • Henderson RW. 1997. A Taxonomic Review of the Corallus hortulanus Complex of Neotropical Tree Boas. Carib. J. Sci. 33 (3-4): 198-221.

External links


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