''Eunectes deschauenseei'', commonly known as the dark-spotted anaconda or De Schauensee's anaconda, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of snake in the subfamily Boinae of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 ...

. The species is native to northeastern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

. Like all boas, it is a nonvenomous constrictor. No subspecies are currently recognized.

Taxonomy

The specific name, ''deschauenseei'', is in honor of American

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee (January 4, 1901 – April 24, 1984) was an American ornithologist. He was born in Rome, Italy to a Swiss aristocratic family. His family moved to the United States in 1913. He was the curator of ornithology at the Ac ...

, who donated a specimen to the

Philadelphia Zoo The Philadelphia Zoo, located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, is the first true zoo in the United States. It was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, but its openi ...

in 1924. The

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

given is "probably collected on the island of Marajo at the mouth of the Amazon".

Distribution and habitat

''Eunectes deschauenseei'' is found in

, in northern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

(the

Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana a ...

and

Amapá Amapá () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is in the northern region of Brazil. It is the second least populous state and the eighteenth largest by area. Located in the far northern part of the country, Amapá is bordered clockwise by Fr ...

states) and

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

. ''E. deschauenseei'' is a semi-aquatic species usually found in swampy, seasonally flooded freshwater areas at elevations below .

Description

Adult males of ''E. deschauenseei'' measure and adult females in snout-to-vent length (SVL).

Reproduction

Vitellogenesis in ''E. deschauenseei'' probably occurs from autumn to spring (May to December).

Gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during preg ...

may last as long as nine months. Litter size among five gravid females ranged from 3 to 27 (mean 10.6). Newborns measure in snout–vent length.

Conservation

The

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

habitat of ''E. deschauenseei'' is highly threatened by

agricultural expansion Agricultural expansion describes the growth of agricultural land ( arable land, pastures, etc.) especially in the 20th and 21st centuries. The agricultural expansion is often explained as a direct consequence of the global increase in food and e ...

, but the threat posed on this species is not known.

Taxonomy

Distribution and habitat

Description

Reproduction

Conservation

References

Further reading