Madagascar boas
| Madagascar boas | ||||||||||||
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Southern Madagascar boa ( Acrantophis dumerili ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Acrantophis | ||||||||||||
| Jan , 1860 |
The Madagascar boas ( Acrantophis ) are a genus of snakes within the boas family . It comprises two types: the northern and southern Madagascar boa , which are only native to Madagascar and its surrounding islands.
description
The basic color of the two species varies from gray-brown to red-brown and beige. The drawing of the animals is quite even. It consists of black or dark brown rhombuses that sometimes form an indistinct zigzag pattern. On the side there are oval black spots with white edges. The ventral side is cream-colored to white. With increasing age, the vividness of the colors diminishes somewhat and the pattern sometimes becomes blurred. The physique is very compact and strong in both species. The Northern Madagascar boa is a bit larger and stocky compared to the Southern Madagascar boa. With an average total length of between 160 and 190 centimeters, this remains significantly smaller compared to the approximately 250 to 270 centimeters of the northern Madagascar boa. The head is clearly separated from the body. The pupils are like slotted vertically at all Boas. The tail of the two species is short and to the side of the cloaca are the pelvic spur .
distribution
Distribution area
In addition to the island of Madagascar , the two species also inhabit the nearby Mascarene Islands , but occurrences of the two species have also been recorded on the island of Réunion . How far they have spread to the offshore islands is still completely unknown; this must first be investigated with detailed studies by field herpetologists .
habitat
The habitat of the southern Madagascar boa are partly the dry and hot areas in the south and southwest of Madagascar. There you will always find them in the vicinity of bodies of water and rivers. The much larger distribution area extends over the tropical rainforests of the island to the south . The northern Madagascar boa prefers the drier areas in northern and central Madagascar as habitat.
Way of life
The way of life of the two species is very similar. Both are crepuscular and nocturnal ambulance hunters . This means that the animals do not actively hunt, but just stick their heads out of hiding, well camouflaged. So they wait patiently for a prey animal to come within their bite range. This is packed in a flash and suffocated in the typical stranglehold. During the day, the animals usually hide in thick leaves, tree trunks or they crawl into remote caves and wait for dusk. The young animals are still very good climbers, but this ability becomes more and more important with increasing age. Then they very rarely climb trees or bushes, which is certainly also due to the size and consequently the high weight of the animals. In old age they actually spend the entire time of their life on the ground.
Systematics
The genus Acranthopis , first described in 1860, belongs to the boas family (Boidae). It is placed there in the subfamily of the Sanziniinae. The genus includes two species, of which no subspecies are known yet:
- Acrantophis dumerili - Southern Madagascar boa
- Acrantophis madagascariensis - Northern Madagascar boa
→ See also: Systematics of snakes
Protection status
Since the natural habitat of the animals on the island is severely disturbed and is also being destroyed to an ever greater extent, this species has been strictly protected. Today more specimens live in the terrariums of enthusiastic snake breeders than in the wild. Therefore, both were included in Appendix A of the Washington Convention on Species Protection and also enjoy the highest protection status as Appendix A of the European Species Protection Regulation.
This means that they cannot be kept in Germany without the approval of the competent authority . When transporting the animals, the approval of the responsible state authority must also be available; in addition, there is a separate exhibition and marketing ban for wild specimens. Special provisions apply to imports and exports. A permit from the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation must be available. In addition, the Federal Species Protection Ordinance stipulates that reptile species in Appendix A of the European Species Protection Ordinance must be labeled for the purpose of recognizing the animal.
literature
- Friedrich-Wilhelm Henkel, Wolfgang Schmidt (ed.): Amphibians and reptiles of Madagascar, the Mascarene, Seychelles and Comoros. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, 1995; ISBN 3-8001-7323-9
