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Tropidophiidae
The Tropidophiidae, common name dwarf boas or thunder snakes, are a family of nonvenomous snakes found from Mexico and the West Indies south to southeastern Brazil. These are small to medium-sized fossorial snakes, some with beautiful and striking color patterns. Currently, two living genera, containing 34 species, are recognized. Two other genera (''Ungaliophis'' and '' Exiliboa'') were once considered to be tropidophiids but are now known to be more closely related to boids, and are classified in the subfamily Ungaliophiinae. There are a relatively large number of fossil snakes that have been described as tropidophiids (because their vertebrae are easy to identify), but which of these are more closely related to ''Tropidophis'' and ''Trachyboa'' and which are more closely related to ''Ungaliophis'' and ''Exiliboa'' is unknown. Description This family is confined to the neotropics, mainly in Hispaniola, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands, with the greatest diversity being in Cuba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snakes
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads ( cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs about twenty-five times independently via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule is not universal (see Amphisbaeni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exiliboa
:''Common names: Oaxacan dwarf boa.'' ''Exiliboa'' is a monotypic genus created for the non-venomous dwarf boa species ''Exiliboa placata'', which is endemic to southern Mexico. No subspecies are currently recognized. Description ''E. placata'' is shiny black in color.Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . Behavior ''E. placata'' is fossorial. Geographic range ''E. placata'' is found in the Mexican state of Oaxaca in the Sierra de Juárez and Sierra Mixe near Totontepec. The type locality given is "near latitude 17° 37' N. and longitude 96° 25' W., at an elevation of approximately 2300 meters ,546 feeton the headwaters of the Río Valle Nacional on the northern slopes of the Sierra de Juárez, in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico". Conservation status ''E. placata'' is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ungaliophis
:''Common names: bromeliad boas, banana boas, neotropical dwarf boas.'' ''Ungaliophis'' is a genus of dwarf boas found from southern Mexico to Colombia. Currently, two species are recognized. Geographic range Found from the Pacific coastal plain and Meseta Central of Chiapas in Mexico, south through Central America (Pacific Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) to Colombia. Habitat These snakes occupy a range of habitats from lowland rainforest to highland pine-oak forests to cloud forests. Their vertical distribution ranges from sea level to 2,300 m elevation. Species Type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( .... References External links * {{Taxonbar, from=Q946982 Tropidophiidae Snake genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ungaliophiinae
Ungaliophiinae is a subfamily of booid snakes containing two genera, '' Ungaliophis'' (two species) and ''Exiliboa'' (one species). They are small constrictors that are found in Central and South America from southern Mexico to Colombia. They eat mostly lizards and frogs and are poorly studied. These snakes were formerly thought to be closely related to two other genera, ''Tropidophis'' and ''Trachyboa''; all four genera were united in the family (Tropidophiidae) based on the presence of a tracheal lung and the absence of a left lung. However, ''Ungaliophis'' and ''Exiliboa'' are now known to be more closely related to booid snakes, whereas ''Tropidophis'' and ''Trachyboa'' are known to be more closely related to the American red pipesnake ''Anilius''. Within Booidea, ''Ungaliophis'' and ''Exiliboa'' are thought to be most closely related to North American ''Charina'' and ''Lichanura ''Lichanura'', the rosy boas, are a genus of snakes in the family Boidae. They are distribute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boidae
The Boidae, commonly known as boas or boids, are a family of nonvenomous snakes primarily found in the Americas, as well as Africa, Europe, Asia, and some Pacific Islands. Boas include some of the world's largest snakes, with the green anaconda of South America being the heaviest and second-longest snake known; in general, adults are medium to large in size, with females usually larger than the males. Five subfamilies, comprising 12 genera and 49 species, are currently recognized. The Old Tupi name for such snakes was mbói, which figures in the etymology of names such as ''jibóia'' and ''boitatá'' (the Brazilian name for the mythical giant anaconda). Description Like the pythons, boas have elongated supratemporal bones. The quadrate bones are also elongated, but not as much, while both are capable of moving freely so when they swing sideways to their maximum extent, the distance between the hinges of the lower jaw is greatly increased.Parker HW, Grandison AGC. 1977. Snakes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leo Brongersma
Leo Daniel Brongersma (17 May 1907 in Bloemendaal, North Holland – 24 July 1994 in Leiden) was a Dutch zoologist, herpetologist, author, and lecturer. Brongersma was born in Bloemendaal, North Holland, and earned his PhD at the University of Amsterdam in 1934. He was probably best known for his scientific paper, "European Atlantic Turtles", which was published in 1972, but he also served as the director of the Natural History Museum, Leiden and lectured at Leiden University until he retired at age 65. In the 1950s he led several expeditions to collect zoological specimens in New Guinea. He described many new reptile species from the Indo-Australian Archipelago and New Guinea. He was also a Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1952 and an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. He died at his home in Leiden in 1994. Amphibian and reptile taxa described by Brongersma Species and subspecies are listed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. '' Panthera leo'' (lion) and '' Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus ''Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants of an ancestral taxon are grouped together (i.e. phylogenetic analysis should c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals moving through them and lead to a variety of anatomical, behavioral and ecological consequences as well as variations throughout different species.Cartmill, M. (1985). Climbing. In ''Functional Vertebrate Morphology'', eds. M. Hildebrand D. M. Bramble K. F. Liem and D. B. Wake, pp. 73–88. Cambridge: Belknap Press. Furthermore, many of these same principles may be applied to climbing without trees, such as on rock piles or mountains. Some animals are exclusively arboreal in habitat, such as the tree snail. Biomechanics Arboreal habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals moving in them, which have been solved in diverse ways. These challenges include moving on narrow branches, mov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic), and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The official area of the Republic of Cuba is (without the territorial waters) but a total of 350,730 km² (135,418 sq mi) including the exclusive economic zone. Cuba is the second-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti, with over 11 million inhabitants. The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited by the Ciboney people from the 4th millennium BC with the Gua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the south of Cuba and northeast of Honduras, between Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The capital city is George Town on Grand Cayman, which is the most populous of the three islands. The Cayman Islands is considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is a major world offshore financial centre for international businesses and wealthy individuals, largely as a result of the state not charging taxes on any income earned or stored. With a GDP per capita of $91,392, the Cayman Islands has the highest standard of living in the Caribbean. Immigrants from over 130 countries and territories reside in the Cayman Islands. History No archaeological evidence for an in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola (the island containing the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic); the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands lies some to the north-west. Originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Many of the indigenous people either were killed or died of diseases, after which the Spanish brought large numbers of African slaves to Jamaica as labourers. The island remained a possession of Spain until 1655, when England (later Great Britain) conquered it, renaming it ''Jamaica''. Under British colonial rule Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with a plantation economy dependent on the African slaves and later their descenda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
