Corallus cropanii

Corallus cropanii, or Cropan's tree boa, is a species of boa, a snake in the family Boidae. The species is endemic to the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Like all boas, it is not venomous. No subspecies are currently recognized.[2] Until 2017, no specimen of this snake had been seen alive since 1953 and only five dead specimens had been collected since then, but in late January, 2017, an adult female Cropan's tree boa measuring 1.7 m (5.6 ft) was captured by locals in Ribeira who brought it to herpetologists from the Butantan Institute and the University of São Paulo Museum of Zoology, who radio-tagged and released the animal to learn more about the species' behavior.[3][4]

Corallus cropanii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Genus: Corallus
Species:
C. cropanii
Binomial name
Corallus cropanii
(Hoge, 1953)
Synonyms[1]
  • Xenoboa cropanii
    Hoge, 1953
  • C[orallus]. cropanii
    — Kluge, 1991
  • Corallus cropanii
    — Henderson, 1993

The Corpan's tree boa is considered endangered.[5]

Etymology

The specific name, cropanii, is in honor of Italian geologist Ottorino de Fiore, Baron of Cropani.[6]

Description

Corallus cropanii has dorsal scales in more than 30 rows, but fewer than 36 rows, at midbody. It has deep sensory pits on most or all upper labials.[7]

Behavior

Corallus cropanii is very rare. Only between three and six known specimens had ever been collected before the capture in 2017, and virtually nothing was known about its natural history.[8] It has been confirmed recently from the specimen found in Ribeira (and radio-tagged) that Cropan's tree boa is often arboreal.[9]

Geographic range
Corallus cropanii

C. cropanii is found only on or near the coastal plain at 40–45 m (131–148 ft) elevation in the municipalities of Miracatu, Pedro de Toledo, and Santos, in São Paulo, Brazil. The type locality given is "Miracatu, State of São Paulo, Brazil".[1]

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References
  1. 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).
  2. "Corallus cropanii ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  3. Moscato, David (14 February 2017). "Rare snake seen alive for the first time in over six decades". Earth Touch News Network. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  4. "Elusive boa surfaces in Brazil". Science. 355 (6326). p. 671. Scientists hadn't seen a live Cropan's boa (Corallus corpanii) since 1953; the snake, thought to be the rarest boid in the world, has only been spotted five times in the ensuing decades, and it was always dead.
  5. "Corallus cropanii(Cropan's Boa)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  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 cropanii, p. 62).
  7. Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Xenoboa cropanii, pp. 64, 80-81, 88).
  8. Stafford PJ, Henderson RW (1996). Kaleidoscopic Tree Boas: The Genus Corallus of Tropical America. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 120 pp. ISBN 0-89464-975-2. (Corallus cropanii, pp. 55-57 + photo on inside front cover).
  9. http://www.earthtouchnews.com/discoveries/discoveries/rare-snake-seen-alive-for-the-first-time-in-over-six-decades

Further reading
  • Hoge AR (1953). "A new genus of Boinae from Brazil, Xenoboa cropanii, gen nov., sp. nov." Memórias do Instituto Butantan 25 (1): 27-34 + one plate. (Xenoboa cropanii, new species).
  • Kluge AG (1991). "Boine Snake Phylogeny and Research Cycles". Misc. Pub. Museum of Zoology, Univ. of Michigan (178): 1-55. PDF at University of Michigan Library. Accessed 11 July 2008.
  • Henderson RW, Puorto G (1993). "Corallus cropanii (Hoge)". Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (575): 1-2.
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