Overview
Interesting Facts
- 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
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
Common Names in Spanish:
Boa de Madagascar meridional
Description
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 [1].
Ecology:
This species inhabits intact and disturbed
humid and dry forest
at
mainly low to mid-elevations (Glaw and Vences 2007). It is present
in disturbed habitats, including arable areas around villages. It
is usually terrestrial
and larger specimens are cathemeral whilst
juveniles
are mostly nocturnal
. It is viviparous and litters
consist
of 2-6 large juveniles. It feeds
on rodents, bats (Pteropus rufus),
tenrecs (Echinops telfari), lemurs (e.g.
Eulemur fulvus,
Propithecus coquereli) and ducks.
[1].
List of Habitats
:
- 1 Forest
- 1.5 Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry
- 1.6 Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland
- 14 Artificial/Terrestrial
- 14.1 Artificial/Terrestrial - Arable Land
- 14.4 Artificial/Terrestrial - Rural Gardens [more info]
Biology
Diet
birds, rats , chickens, lizards, and many other mammals.
Reproduction
Boas breed shortly after the rainy season in the jungle.
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
()
- (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
()
- Grobben, 1908
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
()
- (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum:
Chordata
()
- Bateson, 1885
- Chordates
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
()
- Cuvier, 1812
- Vertebrates
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
()
- auct.
- Jawed Vertebrates
- Superclass:
Tetrapoda
()
- Goodrich, 1930
- Subclass:
Diapsida
()
- Infraclass:
Lepidosauromorpha
()
- Superorder:
Lepidosauria
()
-
- Order:
Squamata
()
- Suborder:
Serpentes
()
- (C. Linnaeus, 1758)
- Superfamily:
Booidea
()
- Family:
Boidae
()
- Subfamily:
Boinae
()
- Genus:
Acrantophis
()
- Jan, 1863
- Specific name:
madagascariensis
- (Dum?ril & Bibron, 1844)
- Variety:
nd like markings on back.
Eyes ap
- Scientific name: - Acrantophis madagascariensis (Dum?ril & Bibron, 1844)
- Variety:
nd like markings on back.
- Specific name:
madagascariensis
- (Dum?ril & Bibron, 1844)
- Genus:
Acrantophis
(
- Subfamily:
Boinae
(
- Family:
Boidae
(
- Superfamily:
Booidea
(
- Suborder:
Serpentes
(
- Order:
Squamata
(
- Superorder:
Lepidosauria
(
- Infraclass:
Lepidosauromorpha
(
- Subclass:
Diapsida
(
- Superclass:
Tetrapoda
(
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
(
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
(
- Phylum:
Chordata
(
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
(
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
(
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Synonyms
Acrantophis madagascariensis madagascariensis Stull 1935 • Acrantophis madagascariensis — Glaw & Vences 1994: 327 • Acrantophis madagascariensis — Kluge 1991: 8 • Acrantophis madagascariensis — Vences Et Al. 2001 • Boa madagascariensis - Kluge 1991: 48 • Boa madagascariensis Boulenger 1893: 120 • Boa madagascariensis — Mcdiarmid • Campbell & TourÉ 1999: 185 • Pelophilus madagascariensis • Pelophilus madagascariensis Duméril and Bibron 1844: 524 • Pelophilus madagascariensis DumÉril & Bibron 1844: 524
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
Comment: Syntypes: MHNP 3133, 7275 and 8636. Length
up to 3.2 m
(BRYGOO
1982)
Similar Species
Members of the genus Acrantophis
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 2 species and subspecies in this genus:
A. dumerili (Dumeril's Boa) · A. madagascariensis (Madagascar Ground Boa)
More Info
- 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
- 1994 IUCN red list of threatened animals Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, 1993 url p. 83.
- Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url p. 266.
- Checklist of CITES Species CITES, WCMC url p. 178.
- Checklist of CITES Species: a reference to the appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CITES url p. 163, p. 164, p. 77.
- Checklist of herpetofauna listed in the CITES appendices and in EC Regulation 338/97 JNCC url p. 37.
- Checklist of reptiles and amphibians listed in the CITES appendices and in EC Regulation 338/97 JNCC url p. 50.
- Ecologically sensitive sites in Africa / Washington, DC, USA: World Bank, 1993. url p. 32.
- IUCN Directory of Afrotropical Protected Areas IUCN, UNEP url p. 1010, p. 334.
- Madagascar: an environmental profile IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 114, p. 128, p. 167, p. 186.
- Oil spill sensitivity of the western Indian Ocean islands: coastal data from the Comoros Islands, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion and the Seychelles WCMC url p. 19, p. 96.
- World Checklist of Threatened Amphibians and Reptiles Joint Nature Conservation Committee url p. 51, p. 54.
- World Checklists of Threatened Amphibians and Reptiles Nature Conservancy Council url p. 44.
Notes
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-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 17, 2012.
- Clark, M. A. WhoZoo.
- IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
- Madagascar Reptile and Amphibian Specialist Group 1996. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
- Raxworthy, C.J., Randriamahazo, H., Rakotondrazafy, N.A. & Rakotondravony, H. 2011. Acrantophis madagascariensis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 29January2012.
- Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
- TIGR Reptile Database . Release date: October 2, 2007
- Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2535807
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-1073
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 634788
- IUCN ID: 188537
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 610661
Footnotes
- Raxworthy, C.J., Randriamahazo, H., Rakotondrazafy, N.A. & Rakotondravony, H. 2011. Acrantophis madagascariensis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 29 January 2012. [back]
