Oaxaca dwarf boa
| Oaxaca dwarf boa | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Exiliboa | ||||||||||||
| Bogert , 1968 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Exiliboa placata | ||||||||||||
| Bogert, 1968 |
The Oaxaca dwarf boa ( Exiliboa placata ) is a non-poisonous snake belonging to the boas family , more precisely, the subfamily of the dwarf boas . It occurs only in the Mexican state of Oaxaca . The genus Exiliboa is monotypical .
The specific epithet "placata" comes from the Latin verb "placare" and describes the quiet, gentle nature of the snake.
features
The Oaxaca dwarf boa is up to 50 centimeters long and is uniformly black in color. Only around the anal does it have a white spot. The head is not separated from the body.
The scales are not keeled. At the height of the body, the Oaxaca dwarf boa has 21 rows of back scales and thus fewer than all other boas in Mexico. The tail, which makes up about 10 percent of the body's length, ends bluntly. The first described specimen of Exiliboa placata had 166 ventral scales and 24 tail scales. The upper jaw has 17–19 teeth.
The nasal scales ( scutum nasale ) are not divided. In contrast to the dwarf boas of the genus Ungaliophis and the terrestrial boas of the genus Tropidophis , it has a large, single internasal between the nasal scales. This borders on a pair of prefrontals, which in turn lie in front of the frontal. The boas of the genus Ungaliophis , however, have a single prefrontal, in Tropidophis the two internasals do not border on the prefrontal. Of the seven scales of the upper lip, the fourth and fifth are directly adjacent to the eye. There are also seven lower lip scales.
Way of life
Little is known about the way of life of the Oaxaca dwarf boa. It lives mainly underground in the cloud and cloud forests and feeds on small frogs, salamanders and amphibian eggs.
A litter contains 8-16 young animals.
distribution
The species occurs only in the northwest of the Mexican state Oaxaca. It lives in the Sierra Juárez and the Sierra Mije at altitudes between 800 and 2000 meters.
Hazard and protection
Because of their small space spread exiliboa is in the red list of the IUCN out as "Vulnerable", that is endangered. In particular, the deforestation for agriculture and forestry reduces the required living space.
Individual evidence
- ^ Exiliboa placata in The Reptile Database
- ↑ a b c d e Charles Mitchill Bogert: A New Genus and Species of Dwarf Boa from Southern Mexico . In: American Museum Novitates . No. 2354 , 1968.
- ↑ a b R. Michael Burger: Tiny Giant Snakes. ( Memento of the original from September 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Exiliboa placata in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2012. Posted by: Canseco-Márquez, L. & Flores-Villela, O., 2007.
