Bolyer snakes
| Bolyer snakes | ||||||||||||
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Round Island Boa ( Casarea dussumieri ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Bolyeriidae | ||||||||||||
| Hoffstetter , 1946 | ||||||||||||
The bolyeriidae (Bolyeriidae) are a family of snakes . The position of the bolyer snakes within the snakes has not yet been conclusively clarified. They used to be placed in the former superfamily of the giant snake- like. However, this was split up on the basis of genetic studies, with the largest groups being the boas and pythons . Compared to these, the bolyer snakes are more closely related to the Caenophidia consisting of the two superfamilies of the adder-like and viper-like (Colubroidea) and the wart snakes (Acrochordidae). Close relatives are also the Erdboas (Tropidophiidae).
species
Within the bolyer snake family there are only two species in two genera:
- Mauritius boa ( Bolyeria multocarinata )
- Round Island Boa ( Casarea dussumieri )
The assignment of the German names to the genres varies from author to author.
anatomy
Bolyer snakes reach a total length of up to one and a half meters. The bolyer snakes differ from the boas and pythons by the lack of remnants of a pelvic belt . They are also characterized by an inner and outer upper jaw bone. The hypapophyses, which are tooth-like spinous processes covered with tooth enamel, are located on the rearmost trunk vertebra in bolyer snakes.
Habitat and food
Both species inhabit or inhabited exclusively the island of Round Island , north of Mauritius . The Round Island Boa prefers trees, the Mauritius boa occurred in stone fields and in crevices. Their main source of food is exclusively endemic lizards such as geckos and skinks.
Protection status
Bolyer snakes were originally found directly on Mauritius and a few smaller islands, but there they have been wiped out in the past by feral domestic pigs . The round island boa is in immediate danger of extinction . The Mauritius boa may already be extinct. No specimens have been recorded on Round Island since 1975.
The goats and rabbits introduced by humans to Round Island in 1840 were a major threat to the snakes until the 1980s. On the initiative of the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation, the invasive animals were removed from the island and the entire island was declared a strictly protected nature reserve. While the measures for the Mauritius boa came too late, the Round Island boa population has been increased from just 75 (in the 1980s) to around 1000 in the present day.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael SY Lee, Andrew F. Hugall, Robin Lawson and John D. Scanlon: Phylogeny of snakes (Serpentes): combining morphological and molecular data in likelihood, Bayesian and parsimony analyzes . In: Systematics and Biodiversity . tape 5 , 2007, p. 371-389 , doi : 10.1017 / S1477200007002290 .
