Clelia (snake genus)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the genus, see Mussurana (genus).

Mussurana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Dipsadinae
Genus: Clelia
Fitzinger, 1826
Species

Seven, see text

Clelia is a genus of snakes, one of three genera with species with the common name mussurana or musurana (Portuguese: muçurana). Clelia is a genus of large snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus is native to Central America and South America, and species of Clelia are found from southern Mexico to Brazil. They specialize in ophiophagy, i.e., they attack and eat other snakes. Currently seven species are recognized as being valid.[1] They have other popular names in various countries, such as zopilota in Central America and cribo on some Caribbean islands (though they are not related to Drymarchon).

Species

The genus Clelia contains the following species which are currently recognized as being valid.[1][2]

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Clelia.

Etymology

The specific name, langeri, is in honor of German-born Dominican friar Brother Andres Langer, who is a missionary in Pampagrande, Bolivia.[3]

Description

Mussuranas have an average total length (including tail) of about 1.5 m (4.9 ft), but may grow up to about 2.5 m (8.2 ft). When young, the

opisthoglyphous teeth) which they use to grasp the head of the attacked snake and push it into the gullet. Then they coil around the prey, killing it by constriction (this is the reason these species are called pseudoboas). Ingestion of the whole body follows. The long body of the ingested snake is compressed as a wave in order to fit into the mussuranas' gastrointestinal system.[citation needed
]

Reproduction

Mussaranas are

oviparous.[citation needed
]

Venom

Although mussuranas are

mammals. It has been reported that at least some captive specimens will accept only live snakes as prey.[citation needed
]

Habitat and behavior

The preferred

habitat of mussuranas is dense ground-level vegetation. They are diurnal.[citation needed
]

Conservation

In some regions, farmers keep mussuranas as

antivenins, erected a statue of Clelia clelia as its symbol and a tribute to its usefulness in combating venomous snake bites. Mussuranas' immunity to bothropic venom was studied by the Brazilian scientist Vital Brazil
in the 1920s. Mussuranas are increasingly rare due to the disappearance of their prey and have disappeared in many habitats.

References

  1. ^ a b "Clelia ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  2. ^ Genus Clelia at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5
    . (Clelia hussami, p. 127; C. langeri, p. 150).

Further reading

  • Ditmars RL (1936). The Reptiles of North America. New York: Doubleday and Co. 476 pp., 135 plates. (Notes: Trimorphodon, Leptodeira capable of poisonous bites; mentions boomslang, possibly mussurana, dangerous.)
  • Fitzinger LI (1826). Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren natürlichen Verwandtschaften. Nebst einer Verwandtschafts-tafel und einem Verzeichnisse der Reptilien-Sammlung des K. K. zoologischen Museum's zu Wien. Vienna: J.G. Heubner. five unnumbered + 67 pp. + one plate. (Clelia, new genus, p. 55). (in German and Latin).
  • Roosevelt, Theodore (1914). Through the Brazilian Wilderness. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 410 pp. (Notes: Throughout the book, the snake is commonly referred to as the "mussurama [sic]").

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clelia.
Wikispecies has information related to Clelia.
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