The distribution of this species is wide, with pale variations of brown, brown, and red tones. In addition, its colors are similar to those of the red-tailed boa. The triangular head of this boa is adorned with a dark stripe on each side. The name is due to the fact that on the tail, the shades can vary to reddish brown. This boa has a cinnamon-gray color, with rectangular brown spots and a light belly. Its head is triangular, with small eyes and vertical pupils. It can reach 3 to 4 meters (10-13 feet) in length, weighing up to 45 kilograms (nearly 100 pounds). This is a large tropical snake, native to the Americas, perhaps the best-known of the group. Red-tailed boa ( Boa constrictor constrictor) To get to know them better, some species of boas are listed below. The previous classification held that pythons and boas must belong to the same family, because they were so long and wide, and had almost the same physical characteristics.īoas don’t have any teeth in the premaxilla, and this, together with the morphology of their head, separates them from the python group. Pythons have ended up being placed in a sister group to this superfamily, the Pythonidea. Among the results, they found that boas and pythons, despite being very similar, are not closely related.įor this reason, boas and some similar snakes are grouped within the superfamily Booidea. There are many controversies regarding the classification of these reptiles, so the University of Massachusetts, in conjunction with Yale, conducted research that reconsiders their taxonomy. The closest relatives that they share some common features with are the pythons. These reptiles have a great variety of physical characteristics, and so there are different discussions about their taxonomic classification. Most species of boas have large, wide bodies, with different types of colorations, depending on the area they inhabit. In addition, they have an infrared detection system that helps them facilitate this process. They don’t have any venom and so they use constriction and macrostomia as a means to be able to hunt and feed. Because of this, they’re considered the most ancestral group of these reptiles.īoas belong to the Boidae family, and their members have the ability to capture and consume prey larger than its own head. In general, experts claim that in the evolution of snakes, there was a loss of limbs, until they reached appearances like those we know today.īoas seem to have vestiges of these limbs, as if they were an intermediate step between the old and current snakes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |