True boas are medium-sized to large snakes. Females are usually
larger than their male counterparts. Boas contain many subspecies
based on locality. They include Colombian, Suriname, Bolivian,
Peruvian, Hog Island, Long Tail Peruvian, Argentine and more. The
boas from the amazon basin are the most colorful possessing bright
cherry red tails.
Compared to true boas, erycines are
quite small, with most members of this subfamily remaining well
under a meter in length. Fossil erycines have been found in rock
strata over 50 million years old, and were once widespread in North
America. Now, only two species remain in North America, as well
as the sand boas in Africa, Asia and southeastern Europe.
At least three erycine species lay eggs: the Calabar Burrowing "Python"
, Calabaria reinhardtii (once classified as a python for this reason);
the Arabian Sand Boa, Eryx jayakari; and the West African Sand Boa,
Eryx muelleri.
All text is available under the terms
of the GNU Free Documentation License
|