Coastal Rosy Boa (Lichanura orcutti)
Description: Lichanura orcutti is a heavy bodied snake with smooth scales and a tapered blunt tail. The head is marginally wider than the neck. It has vertical pupils. Adults can range from 17 to 44 inches in length, though they rarely exceed 36 inches. Hatchlings are 10 to 14 inches long. Males typically have well developed anal spurs.
This species has three stripes that run lengthwise down the dorsal and lateral aspects of the animal. These stripes may be tan, orange, brick red, or reddish-brown depending on locality; interspaces vary from blue grey to tan, yellow, or nearly white. Stripes vary from defined to ill-defined depending on the individual animal. The coloration of younger animals is typically lighter with more defined striping. Despite the name "rosy boa," most individuals do not have the rosy ventral coloration from which the species derives its popular common name.
Habitat: Habitat consists of arid scrublands, semi-arid shrublands, rocky shrublands, rocky deserts, canyons, and other rocky areas. This species may be more common in riparian areas such as oases and permanent or intermittent streams, but it does not require permanent water. The IUCN Redlist suggests that L. orcutti's affinity for rocky habitats unsuitable for development or agriculture may protect it from habitat loss.
Range: This species is found North of the US–Mexico border within San Diego County in California and along the coastal Peninsular Ranges, northward into the Mojave Desert and eastward in the Sonoran Desert of California and Arizona. This species also occurs in southern Nevada.
Found in these States:
AZ |
CA
Diet: Lichanura orcutti is an opportunistic predator and will feed on any suitably sized vertebrates including rodents, birds, smaller reptiles, or amphibians. This species kills prey by constriction.
Reproduction: This species is live bearing, and young are born between October and November. Females generally give birth to 3–14 young.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the large extent of occurrence, large number of locations, presumed large population, and rate of decline that is probably much less than 30 per cent over 10 years or three generations.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Squamata - Scaled Reptiles
»» Suborder: Serpentes
»» Superfamily: Booidea
»» Family: Boidae - Boas
»» Genus: Lichanura - Rosy Boas
»» Species: Lichanura orcutti - Coastal Rosy Boa
»» Subspecies: None
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lichanura orcutti", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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