Overview
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Vulnerable |
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Interesting Facts
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- Boas have heat sensory organs that allow them to hunt/detect danger even when it is dark.
- They slough their skin many times each year.
- Boas use their forked tongues to detect their surroundings. They use Jacobson s organs to help them trail their prey .
- Generally killing their prey by wrapping their body around the victim and suffocating them to death before stretching their jaw to fit the size of the prey to swallow it whole.
Common Names
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Click on the language to view common names.
Common Names in English:
Madagascar Boa, Madagascar Ground Boa, Malagasy Ground Boa
Common Names in French:
Boa De Madagascar, Boa Des Savanes De Madagascar
Common Names in German:
Nordliche Madagaskarboa
Description
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Physical Description
Species Acrantophis madagascariensis
Grows to be a very large, and heavy snake
.
Variety of colors with diamond like markings on back.
Eyes appear to be dull
in color due to the brills over eyes.
Wide, smooth
head
with pits directly above the mouth
for sensing prey
.
Size/Age/Growth
Length from 6 to 13 feet long.
Habitat
Warm forested areas.
Biome: Terrestrial
Biology
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Diet
birds, rats , chickens, lizards, and many other mammals.
Reproduction
Boas breed shortly after the rainy season in the jungle.
Taxonomy
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- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
)
- animals
- Phylum:
Chordata
()
- Chordates
- Class:
Reptilia
()
- Reptiles
- Order:
Squamata
()
- Family:
Boidae (Boinae)
()
- Subfamily:
Boinae
()
- Genus:
Acrantophis
()
- (Duméril and Bibron, 1844)
- Specific name:
madagascariensis
- Duméril & Bibron
- Scientific name: - Acrantophis madagascariensis Duméril & Bibron
- Specific name:
madagascariensis
- Duméril & Bibron
- Genus:
Acrantophis
(
- Subfamily:
Boinae
(
- Family:
Boidae (Boinae)
(
- Order:
Squamata
(
- Class:
Reptilia
(
- Phylum:
Chordata
(
Unambiguous Synonyms
- Acrantophis madagascariensis — Glaw & Vences 1994: 327
- Acrantophis madagascariensis — Kluge 1991: 8
- Acrantophis madagascariensis madagascariensis Stull 1935
- Acrantophis madagascariensis — Vences Et Al. 2001
- Boa madagascariensis Boulenger 1893: 120
- Boa madagascariensis - Kluge 1991: 48
- Boa madagascariensis — Mcdiarmid, Campbell & TourÉ 1999: 185
- Pelophilus madagascariensis Duméril and Bibron 1844: 524
- Pelophilus madagascariensis DumÉril & Bibron 1844: 524
Notes
Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Uetz P.
Similar Species
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Members of the genus Acrantophis
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 3 species and subspecies in this genus:
A. dumerili (Dumeril's Boa) · A. madagascariensis (Madagascar Ground Boa) · A. madagascariensis madagascariensis
More Info
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- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
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- ANDREONE et al. (2003) J. Nat. Hist. 37 (17): 2119–2149
- Boulenger (1893) Catalogue of the snakes,Vol. I.
- Brygoo (1982) Instit. Butantan, Sao Paulo, Mem. 46: 19-58.
- D'Cruze et al. (2007) Herp. Cons. Biol. 2 (2): 87-99
- De Groot (1996) Terra 32 (3): 86-88
- Duméril & Bibron (1844) Erpetologie Générale, Vol.6.
- Glaw & Vences (1994) Fieldguide Amph and Rept. Madagascar.
- Glaw et al. (2004) Draco 5 (19): 37-43
- Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
- Höß et al. (2005) Reptilia (Münster) 10 (6): 6-7
- IUCN. 1990. 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
- IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1986. 1986 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
- Kluge (1991) Publs Mus Zool Univ Michigan 178: 1-58
- McDiarmid et al. (1999) Snake species of the world, v.1.
- McDiarmid, Roy W., Jonathan A. Campbell, and T'Shaka A. Touré 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. The Herpetologists' League. Washington, D.C., USA. xi + 511. ISBN: 1-893777-01-4.
- Stull (1935) Proc. Boston Soc. nat. Hist., 40: 387—408.
- VENCES et al. (2001) Copeia 2001 (4): 1151-1154
- Vences et al. (2004) Salamandra 39 (3/4): 181-206
Notes
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Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 30, 2006.
- Clark, M. A. WhoZoo.
- Madagascar Reptile and Amphibian Specialist Group 1996. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
- Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2535807
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-474
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 634788
- IUCN ID: 283
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 610661
