Geographic Variation in the Emerald Treeboa, Corallus caninus (Squamata: Boidae)

On the congruence of morphology, trophic ecology, and phylogeny in Neotropical treeboas (Squamata: Boidae:Corallus)

“…). The large‐headed, heavier‐bodied, short‐tailed, mammal specialist C. caninus is basal to all other species and is sister to the mammal specialist C. batesii (Vidal et al ., ; Henderson, Passos & Feitosa, ). Corallus cropanii is closely aligned with those two species and Pizzatto et al .…”

“…If so, that would greatly reduce opportunities for locating sleeping and nestling birds. The low number of ventral scales in C. batesii, C. caninus, and C. cropanii relative to their congenerics also suggests a more sedentary foraging mode, and the girths of C. batesii and C. caninus may preclude efficient active foraging; specifically, they cannot achieve the stealth exhibited by more slender treeboas when actively stalking nocturnally quiescent prey (Yorks et al, 2003;Henderson, Treglia & Powell, 2007). Corallus cropanii remains the most enigmatic member of the genus, largely due to its rarity; only five specimens have been collected since its description nearly 60 years ago.…”

“…3). The large-headed, heavier-bodied, shorttailed, mammal specialist C. caninus is basal to all other species and is sister to the mammal specialist C. batesii (Vidal et al, 2005;Henderson, Passos & Feitosa, 2009). Corallus cropanii is closely aligned with those two species and Pizzatto et al (2007), based on two proposed phylogenetic hypotheses (Kluge, 1991;Burbrink, 2005), determined that the common ancestor of boines was stout, short-tailed, and with a moderately long head; that is, in some respects not unlike the most basal species of Corallus.…”

A new species of Chironius Fitzinger, 1826 from the state of Bahia, Northeastern Brazil (Serpentes: Colubridae)

“…This issue is particularly important considering taxa described based on few specimens and/or with diagnostic characters apparently very conspicuous. Frequently these taxa may actually represent species complexes, weakening the diagnosis of species already described and hindering the recognition of cryptic species (Bickford et al 2006;Franco et al 2007;Henderson et al 2009).…”

First record of Corallus blombergi (Rendahl & Vestergren, 1941) (Serpentes, Boidae) from Colombia

“…Four species of Corallus have been reported in Colombia-Corallus annulatus (Cope, 1876), C. batesii (Gray, 1860), C. hortulanus (Linnaeus, 1758), and C. ruschenbergerii (Cope, 1876)-in lowland forests and scrubland, at elevations from sea level to elevations of about 1000 m (Henderson et al 2009). However, Henderson et al (2001) suggested that C. blombergi (Rendahl & Vesterfren, 1941) is likely in southwestern Colombia, based on an unexamined specimen from Tumaco, department of Nariño, which was deposited at the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia (ICN-R 6680).…”