:''Common names: Oaxacan dwarf boa.'' ''Exiliboa'' is a monotypic genus created for the non-venomous

dwarf boa 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 strik ...

species ''Exiliboa placata'', which is endemic to southern Mexico. No

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

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 The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...

of Oaxaca in the Sierra de Juárez and

Sierra Mixe The Sierra Mixe or Mixes District is a district in the east of the Sierra Norte Region of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It comprises 17 municipalities and covers 4,930 km2 at an average elevation of 1,200 meters above sea level. As of 2005 the dis ...

near

Totontepec Totontepec Villa de Morelos is a small village and municipality, in the Sierra Mixe district of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located some 1840 metres above sea level and some 326 km from the state capital, Oaxaca de Juárez. In spite o ...

. 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 Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Red List of Threatened Species with the following criteria: B1ab(iii) (v3.1, 2001). A species is listed as such when the best available evidence indicates that the geographic range, in the form of extent of occurrence, is estimated to be less than 20,000 km (7,772 sq mi), estimates indicate it to be severely fragmented or known to exist at no more than 10 locations, and a continuing decline has been observed, inferred or projected in the area, extent and/or quality of habitat. It is therefore considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. The population trend is down. Assessed in 2007.

Description

Behavior

Geographic range

Conservation status

References

External links

Further reading