Amphibians Of Cuba: checklist and geographic distributions

Giant dwarfs: Very large giant tropes Tropidophis melanurus (Squamata: Tropidophiidae), and new maximum size records for the species

“…S nakes of the family Tropidophiidae, sometimes-called dwarf boas, comprise two genera: Tropidophis and Trachyboa (Wilcox et al 2002). All but five of the 33 currently recognized species of Tropidophis occur in the West Indies (Hedges 2002;Henderson and Powell 2009;Rodríguez Schettino et al 2013;Díaz and Cádiz 2020;Uetz et al 2021). However, molecular studies suggest that recognition of Trachyboa renders Tropidophis paraphyletic, given that the South American clade is sister to Trachyboa instead of the West Indian clade (Franco Curcio et al 2012;Reynolds et al 2014Reynolds et al , 2018.…”

“…Cuba, with 17 endemic species, harbors more than 60% of all species in the West Indian clade (Hedges 2002;Henderson and Powell 2009;Rodríguez Schettino et al 2013;Díaz and Cádiz 2020;Uetz et al 2021). Dwarf boas are viviparous, nocturnally active constrictors that feed mostly on ectotherms such as lizards and frogs, although the larger species occasionally consume small endotherms (for reviews see Henderson and Powell 2009;Rodríguez-Cabrera et al 2017, 2020a, 2020b.…”

“…The Giant Trope (Tropidophis melanurus), which is widely distributed across the Cuban Archipelago at elevations from sea level to 1,293 m (e.g., Henderson and Powell 2009;Rodríguez Schettino et al 2010, 2013, is by far the largest and stoutest species in the family (Schwartz and Henderson 1991;Tolson and Henderson 1993;Hedges 2002). Large sizes reported in the literature include a female with SVL = 950 mm (Grant 1957), a maximum total length of 1,057 mm in an individual of unreported sex (Schwartz and Henderson 1991), and maximum SVLs of 957 mm for females and of 770 mm for males (Hedges 2002).…”

Anfibios y reptiles de la meseta de San Felipe, Camagüey, Cuba

“…La región Centro-Oriental (Mateo et al, 2019) o Camagüey-Maniabón (Acevedo, 1989), es una muestra de lo anteriormente expresado, pues en esta área varios autores registran valores bajos de diversidad y endemismo (por ejemplo, Díaz et al, 2023;Estrada & Ruibal, 1999;Rodríguez-Schettino, 1993). No obstante, estos resultados podrían ser consecuencia de la escasez de estudios y de la falta de registros de especies en este territorio, particularmente en la provincia Camagüey, donde incluso no se registran táxones de distribución amplia en el archipiélago cubano (Díaz & Cádiz, 2008;Rivalta et al, 2014;Rodríguez Schettino et al, 2013).…”