In news– A new species of dwarf boa has been discovered in the upper Amazon basin.
About the new species-
- The snake from the Tropidophiidae family was found in the cloud forest in northeastern Ecuador and was up to 20 centimetres long.
- Tropidophis cacuangoae can be identified from other reptiles in the same genus based on its external features and bone structure.
- The scientists found two verified specimens of the species. Its colouring is primarily light brown with darker brown or black blotches — similar to a boa constrictor.
- The species inhabits eastern tropical piedmont and lower evergreen montane forests in the Amazon tropical rainforest biome and the researchers suspect it to be an Ecuadorian endemic.
- Both specimens were found within 50 kilometres of each other — Colonso Chalupas national reserve and in the private Sumak Kawsay park.
- The species is unusual for having a “vestigial pelvis”, which is characteristic of primitive snakes. This could be evidence that snakes descended from lizards that lost their limbs over millions of years.
- The snake’s name honours Dolores Cacuango, an early 20th-century pioneer in the fight for indigenous and farmers’ rights in Ecuador.
- The researchers also talk about the relationships of the new species with South American tropidophiidae and provide the key to the identification of mainland South American dwarf boas.
- Their morphological evidence provides support against the recognition of the posterior extension of the maxilla suborbital ramus, the posterior extent of maxillary teeth rows and dentary teeth count as synapomorphic characters of Tropidophiidae.
- The discovery of T cacuangoae demonstrates that small and cryptic vertebrates can undergo large periods of time without being detected.
