A small litter of seven live, 1 stillborn and six unfertilized ovum was laid on 28 August. They will now be separated, individually set up and assist fed small anoles for the first 3 or 4 meals until they take anoles on their own. They undergo the same ontogenetic color change as other boas in the genus-they will look entirely different as adults. In the EU Johan Versluis had a litter of four live, two stillborn and several unfertilized ovum, born on 22 September. The babies weighed 4.85g to 6.03g, with an average weight of
Two C. grenadensis born Aug 28, with anolis sagrei as first foods.7 C. grenadensis born Aug 28, shed from Sep 10-12.Two C. grenadensis, freshly shed on 10 Sep.
See the Chapter on Corallus grenadensis for more in depth information on the genus and species in particular.
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.
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
In 1990 Dr. Richard Ross and Gerald Marzec published 10 years of data in what was to become the first book to provide detailed research on maintaining and breeding pythons and boas. The West Indian Boas are included in depth-a first for the genus. A must read for any serious student of Boidae.
Robert W. Henderson dedicated large parts of his professional life to the study of West Indian reptiles with particular focus on the Genus Corallus and herein the species Corallus grenadensis. This fascination, research and accumulated knowledge is the foundation of this synopsis reflecting the status of the current knowledge. The book is more than 400 pages strong and contains more than 300 high quality color photos, most of which never been published before.
Unsurprisingly, Henderson’s love for the species residing on the Windward Islands is shown by the fact that much more information and scientific analysis is provided on these species than on some others. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not a fault of the author, but simply a lack of data and detailed analyses that we suffer from for many of the other taxa. It’s about time to change that.
This book is a must read for any person interested in the genus Corallus. Get it directly from the publisher hereor, if you are in the USA, here.
It is not the strongest of the species that survives but the most adaptable.
~ Charles Darwin
The rapid changes in the West Indies include development, deforestation, chemical uses, increase in population and traffic, pollution, exploitation, drought and climate change. It is questionable if any West Indian Boa species has the capability to adapt to these, given the brevity of time in which these changes occur.
