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Boid
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. Six subfamilies comprising 14-15 genera and 54-67 species are currently recognized. 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, H.W.; Grandison, A.G.C. 1977. ''Snakes – A Natural History''. Second Edition. British Museum (Natural History) and Cornell University Press. 108 pp. 16 plates. LCCCN 76-54625. (cloth), (paper). Both f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boa Constrictor
The boa constrictor (scientific name also ''Boa constrictor''), also known as the common boa, is a species of large, non-venomous, heavy-bodied snake that is frequently kept and bred in captivity. The boa constrictor is a member of the Family (biology), family Boidae. The species is native to tropical South America. A staple of private collections and public displays, its color pattern is highly variable yet distinctive. Four subspecies are recognized. Common names Though all Boidae, boids are indeed Constriction, constrictors, only ''Boa constrictor'' (and its subspecies) is commonly referred to, in English language, English, as a boa constrictor—an example of a species being referred to colloquially using its scientific Binomial nomenclature, binomial name. The species and subspecies of ''B. constrictor'' are part of a variable, diverse group of New World boids referred to as "red-tailed" boas, comprising the species ''Boa constrictor'' and ''Boa imperator''. Within the exot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snake
Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors and relatives, 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 only have one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times 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, althoug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calabar Python
The Calabar python (''Calabaria reinhardtii'') is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Boidae. The species is endemic to West and Central Africa. It is the only species in its genus. Etymology The specific name or epithet, ''reinhardtii'', is dedicated to Danish herpetologist Johannes Theodor Reinhardt (1816–1882). Taxonomy Although Schlegel (1848) first assigned this taxon to the genus '' Eryx'', most herpetologists have since regarded it as a python, which is still reflected in many of its common names. Kluge (1993) referred it to ''Charina'' ( Erycinae) based on a phylogenetic analysis. ''Charina'' was used to group together '' C. bottae'' and '' C. trivirgata'' with ''C. reinhardtii'' to emphasize evidence for an historical connection between the New and Old Worlds, as well as for taxonomic efficiency. All recent analyses, however, place ''Calabaria reinhardtii'' at the base of a large clade within Boidae, which consists of the Boinae, the Erycinae, and an Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Largest Snakes
The largest living snakes in the world, measured either by length or by weight, are various members of the Boidae and Pythonidae families. They include anacondas, Python (genus), pythons and boa constrictors, which are all non-venomous Constriction, constrictors. The longest venomous snake, with a length up to , is the king cobra, while contesters for the heaviest title include the Gaboon viper and the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake. All of these three species reach a maximum mass in the range of . There are fourteen or fifteen living snake species that clearly have a maximum mass of at least , as shown in the table below. Whether the number is fourteen or fifteen depends on whether a DNA analysis reported in 2024 results in the recognition of the northern green anaconda ("''Eunectes akayima''", listed in row 1b below) as a species distinct from the ordinary (southern) green anaconda (''Eunectes murinus''). These include all species that reach a length of at least . There are also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anal Spurs
Pelvic spurs (also known as vestigial legs) are external protrusions found around the cloaca in certain superfamilies of snakes belonging to the greater infraorder ''Alethinophidia''.Pough, F. H. (Ed.). (2004). ''Herpetology'' (3rd ed). Prentice Hall. These spurs are made up of the remnants of the femur bone, which is then covered by a corneal spur, or claw-like structure. This femur derives from ancestral hind limbs found in the most recent common ancestor of modern snakes and the other reptiles of the clade ''Toxicofera'', many of which have fully functional front and hind limbs.Palci, A., Hutchinson, M. N., Caldwell, M. W., Smith, K. T., & Lee, M. S. Y. (2019). The homologies and evolutionary reduction of the pelvis and hindlimbs in snakes, with the first report of ossified pelvic vestiges in an anomalepidid (Liotyphlops beui). ''Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'', zlz098. Due to the fact that the spurs derive from the ancestral state of functional legs, but are no lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Candoia
''Candoia'' is a genus of non-venomous Boinae, boas found mostly in New Guinea, Melanesia, the Solomon Islands and the Maluku Islands in Indonesia. Common names include bevel-nosed boas and keel-scaled boas. Description The species of the genus ''Candoia'' typically have a rounded and heavy body, with a flattened triangular-shaped head and an upturned nose. Colors and patterns vary greatly, but most are various shades of brown to black. Species can vary in adult size from to in total length (including the tail). Males are typically smaller than females and can be distinguished by their prominent cloacal spurs. Distribution and habitat The species of the genus ''Candoia'' are found from Samoa and Tokelau west through Melanesia to New Guinea and the Maluku Islands and the Solomon Islands in Indonesia. Behavior All species of ''Candoia'' are primarily nocturnal. Feeding The primary diet of ''Candoia'' species consists of frogs, tadpoles, fish, skinks and other lizards, rodents a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erycinae
The Erycinae, also known as the Old World sand boas, are a subfamily of nonvenomous snakes in the family Boidae. Species of the subfamily Erycinae are found in Europe, Asia Minor, Africa, Arabia, central and southwestern Asia, India, Sri Lanka, and western North America. Four genera comprising 18 species are currently recognized as being valid. Description Erycinae is a subfamily of stout-bodied snakes, all of which are competent burrowers. The largest, '' E. johnii'', rarely exceeds in total length (including tail). Most grow to around in total length. They have small eyes and hard, small scales to protect their skin from the grit of sand. A great deal of sexual dimorphism exists, with females generally becoming much larger than males. Erycines have skeletal adaptations to burrowing. The skull is more compact than in the subfamily Boinae. Also, the vertebrae of the tail are increased in size but reduced in number. Distribution and habitat Erycines are found in Southeastern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanziniinae
The Sanziniinae are a subfamily of boid snakes containing four species endemic to the island of Madagascar. Common names include Madagascar boas and Malagasy boas. Taxonomy This subfamily contains two genera, each one with two species: *'' Acrantophis'' - Jan, 1860 :: '' Acrantophis dumerili'', Duméril's boa :: '' Acrantophis madagascariensis'', Madagascar ground boa or Malagasy ground boa *'' Sanzinia'' - Gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ..., 1849 :: '' Sanzinia madagascariensis'', Madagascar tree boa or Malagasy tree boa :: ''Sanzinia volontany'', Nosy Komba ground boa'' References * Romer, A.S.: ''Osteology of the Reptiles''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1956. Further reading * Boidae Snake subfamilies {{Alethinophidia-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Anaconda
The green anaconda (''Eunectes murinus''), also known as the giant anaconda, emerald anaconda, common anaconda, common water boa, or southern green anaconda, is a semi-aquatic boa species found in South America and the Caribbean island of Trinidad. It is the largest, heaviest, and second longest (after the reticulated python) snake in the world. No subspecies are currently recognized, but there are two different species that have the name of the Green Anaconda which are the Northern Green Anaconda and Southern Green Anaconda. Like all boas, it is a non-venomous constrictor. The term "anaconda" often refers to this species, though the term could also apply to other members of the genus '' Eunectes''. Fossils of the snake date back to the Late Pleistocene in the Gruta do Urso locality. Taxonomy In the famous ''10th edition of Systema Naturae'' of 1758, Carl Linnaeus cited descriptions by Albertus Seba and by Laurens Theodorus Gronovius to erect the distinct species ''murina' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infrared Sensing In Snakes
The ability to sense infrared thermal radiation evolved independently in three different groups of snakes, consisting of the families of Boidae (boas), Pythonidae (pythons), and the subfamily Crotalinae (pit vipers). What is commonly called a pit organ allows these animals to essentially "see" radiant heat at wavelengths between 5 and 30 μm. The more advanced infrared sense of pit vipers allows these animals to strike prey accurately even in the absence of light, and detect warm objects from several meters away. It was previously thought that the organs evolved primarily as prey detectors, but recent evidence suggests that it may also be used in thermoregulation and predator detection, making it a more general-purpose sensory organ than was supposed.Greene HW. 1992. The ecological and behavioral context for pitviper evolution. ''In'' Campbell JA, Brodie ED Jr. 1992. Biology of the Pitvipers. Texas: Selva. 467 pp. 17 plates. . Phylogeny and evolution The facial pit underwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boavus Idelmani
''Boavus'' is an extinct genus of boa known primarily from Eocene-aged strata of North America. At least three species (''B. occidentalis, B. idelmani'', and possibly ''B. agilis'') are known from the Middle Eocene Green River lagerstätte in Wyoming, two species from Eocene strata of Uinta County (''B. occidentalis'' again, ''B. brevis''), and at least one species is known from the middle to late Eocene-aged Sespe Formation of California (''B. affinis''). ''Boavus'' was a small snake measuring between long. Post-Eocene specimens Three vertebrae very similar in form, if not identical to those of ''B. occidentalis'' were found in early Oligocene-aged strata of South Dakota. Remains of what may be ''B. affinis'' are found in Late Miocene (Early Barstovian-aged) strata of Trinity River in Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
