Category Archives: Natural History

A fantastic discovery – Chilabothrus ampelophis

Chilabothrus, Conservation, Natural History

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.

The press releases are here and here.

This is a reminder to protect what we know – and what we don’t know.

Citation

Recommended Reading

Corallus, Natural History, Recommended reading, , , , , , ,

 

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  here  or, if you are in the USA,  here.

Quote of the Month

Conservation, Natural History, “Quote” of the Month
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.

Recommended Reading

Conservation, Natural History, Recommended reading

We assume all of our readers have a genuine interest in not only West Indian Boas but herpetofauna, in general. This book, written by two well established academic researchers in the field is worth reading. It deals with the geographically small subsection of the West Indies (St. vincent and the Grenadines) but does so in such great detail, that it is almost impossible not to learn a wealth of new things about the herpetofauna from these islands.

It contains more than 400 color photos and distribution maps of the 32 species of reptiles and amphibians that occur on the more than 40 islands of the St. Vincent Bank and the Grenada Bank. It touches also topics of conservation and provides a compilation of our current knowledge of the frogs and reptiles of the two banks and raises concerns for their futures.

ORDER it directly from the publisher (here) or another privately owned small bookshop.

 

A short film on deforestation

Conservation, Natural History

The following short video shows real images, comparing the state of forests in 1984 to 2020. Many of our readers have been already born when the first images of this film were taken. So this all happened within our lifetime…

While many of the images are from South America, it is necessary to understand that deforestation is not a local problem of some less developed countries, but rather the result of a globalized world where it is cheaper to cut and burn trees for a meager harvest of soy, corn, sugar cane, palm oil, etc., which in turn is exported to feed cattle or sweeten our soft drinks, than to produce healthy food from the soils we live on.

Deforestation is real and the root cause is the human population.

It is important to notice that on the West Indies, changing natural habitat occurs at an unprecedented pace, for different reasons than in South America, but with the same result.

With deforestation measured in hectares per hour (ha/hr) instead of ha/month or year, this is the biggest threat to all biodiversity on this planet. PERIOD.

Picking Winners & Losers: Who Decides?

Boa, Chilabothrus, Conservation, Corallus, Natural History, Tropidophis

Mr. James Peters, after spending several months in the Virgin Islands region in 1917, returned with rather unfortunate news of the bank.  He reported the fauna was, sadly, “depleted and fast disappearing” .  Schwartz and Henderson in 1975 were of the hope that the future survival of the West Indian Herpetofauna was brighter than it indicated at the time .  Powell & Henderson highlighted the plight of the West Indian herpetofauna in 2008 .  Daudin & De Silva (2011) remarked, “The general situation is so desperate that even the most deliberate conservation efforts will probably amount to salvage operations” .

“If we continue down that path”, has become, “Because we continued down that path.”  A decade later it appears we are reaching the point of no return.   The billions of dollars flooding into the Caribbean for myriad purposes are paving it end-to-end.   Surely not, you say?  Well, let’s take a trip down memory  deforestation lane, shall we? Continue reading Picking Winners & Losers: Who Decides? →