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| Calabaria reinhardtii Schlegel, 1851 |
The Calabar Python or Calabar Boa (Calabaria reinhardtii) is a species of burrowing snake found in tropical West Africa from Sierra Leone to northern Zaire. Hermann Schlegel ( June 10, 1804 - January 17, 1884) was a German Ornithologist. 1851 ( MDCCCLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. The Republic of Zaire (pronunciation; République du Zaïre was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between October 27, 1971 The identification of this snake is somewhat subjective, and herpetologists differ as to this snakes relationship to other pythons and boids. Herpetology (from Greek: ἑρπετόν herpeton, "creeping animal" and λόγος logos, "knowledge" is the branch of Zoology Common names pythons The Pythonidae are a family of non- Venomous Snakes found in Africa, Asia Boa Kwon (born November 5, 1986) have contributed to her commercial success in South Korea and Japan and her popularity throughout Asia
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Classification
Some herpetologists place the Calabar in the genus Charina with the Rubber Boa (Charina bottae), and the Rosy Boa (Charina trivirgata). Herpetology (from Greek: ἑρπετόν herpeton, "creeping animal" and λόγος logos, "knowledge" is the branch of Zoology A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic Common names rosy boas rubber boas Charina is a Genus of non-venomous boas found in North America The Coastal Rubber Boa is a type of Boa ( Snakes belonging to the family Boidae) The Rosy Boa ( Lichanura trivirgata) is a snake of the Boidae family, one of only two members of that family native to the United States. Others place it in its own genus, but still within the subfamily Erycinae along with Charina, Eryx, and Gongylophis. Common names Old World sand boas The Erycinae are a subfamily of non-venomous boas found in Europe, Asia Common names old world sand boas Eryx is a Genus of non-venomous boas found in southeastern Europe Common names sand boas Gongylophis is a Genus of non-venomous boas found in mostly in Africa and Yet, others would place the Calabar in its own subfamily Calabarinae, where it would be the only member.
Calabaria's complex classification history is the result of several factors. This snake could be classified in the subfamily Pythonidae (it is often still called the African Burrowing "Python") because like pythons, this species is oviparous, or lays eggs. Common names pythons The Pythonidae are a family of non- Venomous Snakes found in Africa, Asia Oviparous animals are animals that lay eggs, with little or no other Embryonic development within the mother In most Birds and Reptiles an egg ( Latin ovum) is the Zygote, resulting from Fertilization of the Ovum. However, it was originally described as a member of the subfamily Erycinae due to its structural similarities to the Erycine boas. The problem lies in the fact that many of the physiological traits it shares with other members of the subfamily Erycinae are plesiomorphic (or primitive) traits. Cladistics is the hierarchical classification of Species based on evolutionary ancestry
Due to the confusion, the Calabar Python is known by many names: the Calabar Boa, Calabar Burrowing Python, West African Burrowing Python, West African Ground Python and simply Calabria.
Description
This snake grows to a maximum length of 1 m (3'). It has a blunt rounded head and its body is very round in profile. The body is covered in glossy smooth scales, black to dark brown in color with speckles of lighter reddish brown scales in a random pattern. In most biological nomenclature a scale ( Greek lepid, Latin squama) is a small rigid plate that grows out of an Animal Black is the Color of objects that do not emit or Reflect Light in any part of the Visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of Black, when used as a general term is a color that is a Very dark Black, black, or Black, of low Luminance relative to Red is any of a number of similar Colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of Light discernible by the human eye in the wavelength The tail may be ringed or have a partial ring of bright white scales around its circumference. White is a Color, the perception which is evoked by Light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive Cone cells in the Human eye The shape of the tail closely resembles that of the head which may be a defensive adaptation, meant to confuse an attacker. The body is muscular and strong but not very wide due to the snake's need to burrow easily. The head scales are very broad and adapted to burrowing and it has relatively small eyes, usually of a dark reddish brown colour. Eyes are organs that detect Light, and send signals along the Optic nerve to the visual areas of the brain The pupil of the eye is round. The pupil is the hole that is located in the center of the iris of the eye and that controls the amount of light that enters the Eye.
Behavior
The Calabar is a predominantly nocturnal, burrowing (fossorial) snake, spending much of its time hidden under leaf debris on the jungle floor. As an Animal behavior, nocturnality describes sleeping during the Daytime and being active at Night - the opposite of the diurnal A fossorial is an Organism adapted to digging and life underground such as the Badger, the Naked mole rat, and the mole salamanders Ambystomatidae It is a nest raider, seeking the burrows of mice and rats, often waiting for the parents to leave the nest where it will enter and eat a whole litter of young at a time. A mouse (plural mice) is a small Animal that belongs to one Rats are various medium sized long-tailed Rodents of the superfamily Muroidea The Calabar uses constriction to kill its prey, but this snake has the unusual habit of using its body coils to press the young mice or rats against the walls of their nest, crushing them. Snakes Constriction is a method used by various Snake Species to kill their prey. If there is enough room in the rodent nest, the snake may take numerous prey items into its coils to be constricted simultaneously.
They are very docile snakes, when threatened it has a tendency to coil itself into a tight ball with its head safely tucked in its own coils. Also it may thump its tail against the ground in a defensive posture as well, but will rarely bite in aggression. The tail of Calabaria often has a conspicuous white ring which may attract attention of predators away from the head. When first disturbed, they will often remain very still while slowly moving the tail in an effort to increase the effect of this deception.
Reproduction
The Calabar is an oviparous snake, meaning it is reproduced from an egg. The eggs laid by the female are relatively large, weighing as much as 50 g (2 oz) each. Usually only one or two eggs are laid, rarely three. This clutch may well represent half of the females body weight before laying. The young hatch after six weeks of incubation, and will take food two or three days after hatching, usually after the first shed of their skin.
In captivity
Calabaria are not commonly found in captivity, but they are occasionally available in the exotic animal trade. Captive reproduction has only been accomplished by a few individual keepers, so most are wild caught. They can be handled easily, readily accept captive bred mice and rats for food, and their peculiarity makes for a unique pet, but they are a shy captive and do best when provided a warm, damp substrate for burrowing and are left alone.
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