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A new species of dwarf boa has been discovered in the upper Amazon basin.
About Tropidophis cacuangoae
- 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.
Source: DTE - 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.
Source: DTE
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