Corallus batesii

Corallus batesii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Genus: Corallus
Species:
C. batesii
Binomial name
Corallus batesii
(Gray, 1860)
Synonyms

Corallus batesii, also known commonly as the Amazon Basin emerald tree boa, is a species of snake in the subfamily Boinae of the family Boidae. The species is native to the tropical rainforests of South America. This species was revalidated from the synonymy of Corallus caninus by Henderson and colleagues in 2009.[3][4]

Taxonomy and etymology

English naturalist John Edward Gray originally described this species as Chrysenis batesii in 1860.[5] The specific name, batesii, is in honor of Henry Walter Bates, an English naturalist and explorer, for whom Batesian mimicry is also named.[6]

Description

The Amazon Basin emerald tree boa has a yellow belly. The dorsum is dark green with an enamel-white vertebral stripe, which has confluent partial crossbars, often bordered by some black spots. C. batesii differs from C. caninus by the shape and the number of scales across the snout. C. batesii is bigger than C. caninus, growing to a total length (including tail) approaching 9 feet (2.7 m).[7]

Behavior

Corallus batesii is arboreal, and it is both diurnal and nocturnal.[1]

Diet

Amazon Basin emerald tree boas in the living collections of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, North Carolina, pictured shortly after feeding

Corallus batesii is capable of hunting small airborne prey, such as bats and birds, as well as rodents, opossums, lizards (including Thecadactylus solimoensis), and other snakes (including Bothrops atrox).[1][8]

Reproduction

Corallus batesii is ovoviviparous.[1]

Geographic range and habitat

Corallus batesii, the "Amazon Basin species", as the common name suggests, is only found in the basin of the Amazon River, in southern Suriname, southern Venezuela to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil and in the surrounding jungles of the Amazon River.[9] It is found at elevations from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft).[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Rivas G, Gutiérrez-Cárdenas P, Caicedo J, Hoogmoed M, Gagliardi G, Cisneros-Heredia DF, Nogueira C, Gonzales L (2016). "Corallus batesi [sic]". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T203207A2762173.en. Downloaded on 11 June 2021.
  2. ^ McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  3. ^ a b Corallus batesii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 30 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Corallus batesii ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  5. ^ Gray JE (1860). "Description of a New Genus of Boidæ discovered by Mr. Bates on the Upper Amazon". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Third Series 6: 131-132. (Chrysenis batesii, new species). (original text).
  6. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Corallus batesii, p. 19).
  7. ^ Henderson, Robert W.; Pauers, Michael J.; Colston, Timothy J. (2013). "On the congruence of morphology, trophic ecology, and phylogeny in Neotropical treeboas (Squamata: Boidae: Corallus)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 109 (2): 466–475. doi:10.1111/bij.12052.
  8. ^ https://www.reptilesofecuador.com/corallus_batesii.html
  9. ^ Bernarde PS, Albuquerque S, Barros TO, Turci LCB (2012). "Serpentes do Estado de Rondônia, Brasil ". Biota neotrop. 12 (3): 1-29. (in Portuguese, with an abstract in English).

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