Some time ago, Ivan Rehák from the Zoo Prague informed us about a new genetic study on the Cuban boa Chilabothrus angulifer that he co-authored . We are very thankful for this and appreciate the study. We are deeply sorry for not covering it earlier.
The team of researchers addressed the question whether the Cuban boa is in fact a species complex. They analyzed the mitochondrial haplotype structure of the European ex situpopulation of Cuban boas. The results revealed a high degree of diversity. 96 specimens were sequenced and 25 distinct haplotypes detected.
The results further indicated adeep divergence among three principal haplogroups, with bayesian estimates of the divergence time equal to 3.57and 2.26Mya respectively.
Rehák and colleagues consider this divergence as an argument for diverse evolutionary lines whose distance corresponds to or is greater than among some other – taxonomically recognized – species of the genus.
Whether these lines represent whole species or subspecies needs to be tested by further in depth studies with genetic material collected from different locations in cuba.
Rehák, I., Šťáhlavská, I., Somerová, B. O., Šimková, O., & Frynta, D. (2021). A deep divergence and high diversity of mitochondrial haplotypes in an island snake: the case of Chilabothrus angulifer (Serpentes: Boidae). Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem., 85, 1–22.
On 12 January, 2023 the CITES Secretariat posted a Notification to the Parties announcing amendments to CITES Appendices I and II. That announcement (No. 2023/005) can be found here.
In a NOTICE TO THE WILDLIFE IMPORT/EXPORT COMMUNITY from the USFWS, Conference of the Parties (CoP19) Amendments to Appendices I and II are effective 90 days after the last day of the CoP. This rule change will take effect 23 February, 2023. The USFWS Notice can be found in its entirety here.
Species Transferred from Appendix I to Appendix II:
— Chilabothrus inornatus (Puerto Rican boa) (NOTE: Listed as Endangered under the ESA)
Given how vague the USFWS Bulletin was, we asked the USFWS the following questions on 16 January, 2023:
1- After the 90 day wait period (23 Feb, 2023) does the Puerto Rican boa (Chilabothrus inornatus) remain on the ESA?
2-Does it remain on the ESA as Endangered?
3-Can it be imported and exported outside of the CONUS (Continental US)?
4-Can it now be transported across state lines without permit (other than breeding loans/gifting)?
5-Can out-of-state sales take place?
On 27 January, 2023 we received the following response:
“The CITES reclassification does not affect the ESA listing in any way. U.S. trade with the species would still need to meet the ESA Import/ Export Requirements. The CITES listing only affects international trade so there are no changes to its interstate movement or sale at this time.”
In July, 2022 the USFWS, via the Federal Register, solicited comments regarding their plan to remove the Puerto Rican Boa from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. That decision has not been published as of 9 July, 2023.
By R. Graham Reynolds, Robert W. Henderson, Luis M. Diaz, Tomas M. Rodriguez-Cabrera and Alberto R. Puente-Rolon. Forward by Jonathan B. Losos. Hardcover $59.95
ISBN13: 9781501765452
ISBN10: 1501765450
Publication date: 03/15/2023
Pages: 288
Illustrations: 122 color photos, 21 maps, 3 charts, 2 graphs
Dimensions: 8 x 10 x 0 in
Pre-order here: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501765452/boas-of-the-west-indies/#bookTabs=4
Jamaican Boas have been bred as a measure of conservation since the 1970s. Today the species is still listed as Vulnerable (VU) by IUCN and listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The species is currently kept by multiple zoos and aquaria as well as private breeders. We sum up the annual breedings of this boa that we are aware of. Westindianboas.org provided over the years several breeders with breeding stock animals in the US. Unfortunately, restrictions make the export of this species unnecessarily difficult. Considering the good breeding successes on both sides of the Atlantic, it should be in the interest of conservation to exchange genetic material and thus continue to maintain a diverse genetic foundation for conservation.
Several litters of the Jamaican Boa, Chilabothrus subflavus, were born this season in the US, the UK and the EU. This particular litter, shown below, was born 9 September, 2021. Produced by Rob Stone of the US, the litter numbered 17 live with no stillborn or unfertilized ovum. Neonate weights ranged from 10.83 g to 13.93 g, with a mean of 12.98 g. SVL of the neonates was 25.72 cm to 33.18 cm, with a mean of 30.13 cm.
Sire of the litter. Photo Rob StoneDam of the litter. Photo Rob StoneSea of subflavus. Photo Rob Stone
The Jamaican Boa is highly variable in color and pattern; the ontogenetic color change will take 18 – 24 months to complete.
The following litters were also produced during the 2021 season:
UK: 12 live, 2 stillborn and 7 unfertilized ova on 3 October, 2021. Bred by Tom Middlebrook and Faye Da Costa.
US: 15 live, 1 unfertilized ovum on 27 September, 2021. Bred by David Muth and Jared Rager.
US: 34 live, 3 stillborn and 3 or 4 unfertilized ova on 26 September, 2021. Bred by Tom Crutchfield.
Germany: 9 live, 1 stillborn and 6 unfertilized ova on 14 September, 2021. Bred by Sebastian Hölch.
UK litter of 12. Photo Tom Middlebrook and Faye Da Costa
Visit the chapter for the Jamaican Boa here for more in depth information and photos.
The Bahamas Boa Chilabothrus s. strigilatus is a species that relatively few private persons keep and, to our knowledge, no zoo worldwide has these fascinating boas on display. We are more than pleased to announce that a litter of C. strigilatus was born on October 1st in Germany.
Chilabothrus strigilatus babies with snake mother
Birth began in the morning hours from 8.30am. The moon phase was in between half and new moon. The pressure system was high and the morning was sunny, however, in the evening a low pressure system came in and it started to rain.
The post ovulation shed of the female boa occurred on June 13th, thus 110 days passed between post ovulation shed and birth. Noticeably, the yolk was entirely used up in all babies and only the allantois was present as extraembryonic tissue.
Chilabothrus strigilatus babies the first sight
The litter contained 27 perfectly healthy babies. weighing between 12 and 16 grams. Average weight was 14.07 grams. The length of the babies is around 43 cm. The litter did not contain any unfertilized eggs, deformed or stillborn babies.
Chilabothrus strigilatus babies with mother
The relative clutch mass (RCM) indicates the amount of mass spent on the babies by their mother. The babies had a combined birth weight of 380 grams and the mother weighed post parturition 1087g. The RCM is calculated as: baby mass / (baby mass + mother mass post parturition). The mother spent 25.9% of her mass in babies, not accounting for fluids and extraembryonic tissue which could not be accurately weighed.
Chilabothrus strigilatus babiesChilabothrus strigilatus baby on hand
More information on the species can be found here.
A small team of researchers make a unique discovery.
Miguel A. Landestoy T., R. Graham Reynolds and Robert W. Henderson found and described a new species of Chilabothrus on the well studied Island of Hispaniola. They describe the new species as Chilabothrus ampelophis – the Hispaniolan Vineboa – in the Journal Breviora . The boa was discovered on the Barahona Peninsula on the Dominico-Haitian Border in a very small area of less than 10 km2.
Phylogenetic relationships of Chilabothrus species (Figure from Landestoy T. et al. 2021)
The new species Chilabothrus ampelophis differs from C. fordii in body, head, snout shape, scalation, coloration and pattern. It is on the molecular level phylogenetically unique. Morphologically the species appears to fall between C. fordii and C. gracilis, which the researchers consider as a accentuation of the probable ecological differences from its sister species C. fordii.
Interestingly, the researchers found a -as of yet undescribed- Tropidophis species in the same area. This is a reminder of how little we know, even in areas populated by humans and in scientifically well studied regions like the island of Hispaniola. We can only speculate how many species might have gone extinct without us ever knowing of their existence in the intensely altered part of the island on the Haitian side.
Landestoy T., M. A., Reynolds, R. G., & Henderson, R. W. (2021). A SMALL NEW ARBOREAL SPECIES OF WEST INDIAN BOA (BOIDAE; CHILABOTHRUS) FROM SOUTHERN HISPANIOLA. Breviora, 571(1). https://doi.org/10.3099/0006-9698-571.1.1
Humans as a species behave in interesting ways. We respond to events such as a terrorist attack, a flooding or a wildfire with some sort of intellectual answer – not always the right response but that’s a different story. On the other hand, dramatic events that affect our world as a whole and which are long lasting seem too big to fathom.
One such event is the ocean circulation of the Atlantic Ocean, which includes the Gulf Stream, has probably lost stability over the past century and could now be facing a crucial tipping point. The news should have sent shockwaves through the world – but it didn’t.
Niklas Boers, a climate researcher of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) came to conclude this. He published his findings in the Journal, Nature Climate Change .
Hurricane Maria to the southeast of Puerto Rico. Source Wikimedia Commons
Why is this important and what does it mean?
The Gulf Stream is considered the long-distance heater of Europe, as it brings heat as far as the British Isles and off the coast of Norway. The Gulf Stream, in turn, is part of the larger Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This carries warm and salty water northward at the ocean surface, while cold and low-salinity water flows back at depth. Based on evidence from Earth’s history, researchers suspect that the circulatory system can, in principle, switch between two different operating states: a strong circular motion, as currently observed, and a much weaker one.
Because the AMOC system redistributes large amounts of heat, it affects weather worldwide. A sudden change from the strong to the weak state would therefore have serious consequences: Europe would possibly cool, while hurricanes would increase over the Atlantic.
A number of factors are probably responsible for the approach to the tipping point. The increased input of freshwater originating from the melting of the Greenland ice masses is a main factor while, in addition, precipitation and input from rivers into the ocean have also increased as a result of climate change. Fresh water is lighter than salt water and therefore tends to remain at the surface instead of sinking into the depths. This process is slowing down the normal ocean circulation.
Boers traced the telltale signs of change in ocean circulation, such as saltwater content and ocean temperature, back over 150 years. His analysis shows that the AMOC system transitioned from relatively stable conditions to a point near a critical threshold over the last century.
And the boas?
We saw in the recent past glimpses of what hurricane intensification means for the West Indies. Hurricane Maria devastated the northeastern West Indies in September 2017, particularly Dominica (Category 5), Saint Croix, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico (Category 4) were affected. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect those islands. Considering the above mentioned study, we need to prepare for more of this.
But even if some islands are unaffected by hurricanes, and aside from big tangible impacts, even a small change in weather, which might not be considered as dramatic in human terms, might have a huge impact on the boas. The food source of the boas might be affected and most probably the ability to reproduce will be strongly affected, since reproductive stimuli to which the boas evolved are altered and the chances of proper thermoregulation for gravid females might decline.
We have but one chance to improve the likelihood of survival for the West Indian Boas – captive breeding through willing institutions and the Invisible Ark.
Addendum
On August 9th the IPCC published it’s Sixth Assessment Report .
Key findings:
Global surface temperature was 1.09C higher in the last decade (2011-2020) than in the last pre industrialisation half century (1850-1900).
The past five years have been the hottest on record since 1850
The recent rate of sea level rise has nearly tripled compared with 1901-1971
Human influence is “very likely” (90%) the main driver of the global retreat of glaciers since the 1990s and the decrease in Arctic sea-ice
It is virtually certain that hot extremes including heatwaves have become more frequent and more intense since the 1950s, while cold events have become less frequent and less severe
Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, et al. 2021. “IPCC, 2021: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.” Cambridge Univ. Press. https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/.
Boers, Niklas. 2021. “Observation-Based Early-Warning Signals for a Collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.” Nature Climate Change 11 (8): 680–88. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01097-4.
This time of the year is the start of the season when West Indian Boa babies are born. The various species employ slightly different reproductive strategies, reflected in their annual timings of birth. Ford’s Boa (Chilabothrus fordii) is generally the first of the genus to give birth in- and ex situ.
This litter of four C. fordii, produced by a five year old female, was born on July 24, 2021 in Germany. The moon phase was full moon, a low pressure system was in the making and the boas were born in the hours of the (not so early) morning and discovered around 11am – most likely – soon after birth. Yolk sacs and fetal membranes were still attached.
The weight of the boas was determined with a household fine scale. The measurements of the seemingly largest specimen was approximately 25 cm and weighed 4.9 grams. The shortest was about 23 cm and weighed 4.4 grams. The weights of the others were 4.5 grams and 4.8 grams, respectively. Mean neonate weight was 4.65 grams.
No stillborn, deformed young or unfertilized eggs were discovered. It appears unlikely that the female produced and consumed them because: (a) the boas were discovered right after birth and ( b) no signs of consumption were made – the mother looked very emaciated.
The boas are from Jeff Murray, a mixture of US lines. Jeff coined the phrase: It’s Christmas in July! Which appears very accurate when one sees these beauties.
A litter of Chilabothrus fordii with the mother boa. Photo by E. FitzpatrickA litter of Chilabothrus fordii. Photo by E. Fitzpatrick
Litter of 9 neonate C. fordii born 27 July. Photo Jeff Murray
The first newborn boa shed after 5 days. A comparison of the first skin to an adult C. fordii shed illustrates the size differences. Notice that the skin stretches when the boas shed, the baby boa measures about 25 cm, whereas the skin measures close to 40 cm. The adult boa skin has stretched to a lesser percentage.
Size comparison between adult shed skin and newborn first shed.
We look forward to more litters coming on both sides of the Atlantic. To read more about the fascinating Ford’s Boa, click here
UPDATE: Comments have been closed; now we wait for a decision based on your feedback.
Per the USFWS: This proposal is based on a thorough review of the best available scientific data, which indicate that the species’ status has improved such that it is not currently in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. We are also proposing a rule under the authority of section 4(d) of the Act that provides measures that are necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of the Virgin Islands boa. Further, we are correcting the List to change the scientific name of the Virgin Islands boa in the List from Epicrates monensis granti to Chilabothrus granti to reflect the currently accepted taxonomy.
This was posted on 30 September and your opportunity to comment closes on 30 November, 2020. See the Federal Register Posting here.
