Tropidophis melanurus (SCHLEGEL, 1837)
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Tropidophis melanurus
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| Higher Taxa | Tropidophiidae, Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | Tropidophis melanurus melanurus (SCHLEGEL 1837) Tropidophis melanurus dysodes SCHWARTZ & THOMAS 1960 Tropidophis melanurus ericksoni SCHWARTZ & THOMAS 1960 |
| Common Names | E: Giant Trope, Wood Snake G: Kubanische Zwergboa |
| Synonym | Boa melanura SCHLEGEL 1837: 399 Tropidophis melanurus — BIBRON in DE LA SAGRA 1840: 208 Tropidophis melanurus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1844: 491 Tropidophis melanurus — JAN 1864 Ungualia [sic] melanura — GARMAN 1887: 278 Ungalia melanura — BOULENGER 1893: 111 Tropidophis melanurus — STULL 1928: 39 Tropidophis melanurus melanurus — SCHWARTZ & OGREN 1956 Tropidophis melanurus — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 638 Tropidophis melanurus — MATTISON 1995: 112 Tropidophis melanurus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 220 Tropidophis melanurus — MATTISON 2007: 137 Tropidophis melanurus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 754 Tropidophis melanurus dysodes SCHWARTZ & THOMAS 1960 Tropidophis melanurus dysodes — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1988 Tropidophis melanurus dysodes — POWELL & HENDERSON 2012 Tropidophis melanurus ericksoni SCHWARTZ & THOMAS 1960 Tropidophis melanurus ericksoni — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1988 Tropidophis melanurus ericksoni — POWELL & HENDERSON 2012 |
| Distribution | Cuba melanurus: throughout Cuba with exception of range of T. m. dysodes. Type locality: Cuba. dysodes: Pinar del Rio Province, Cuba. Type locality: 1 km N La Coloma, Pinar del Rio Province, Cuba. ericksoni: Isla de la Juventud.Type locality: Bibijagua, Isla de la Juventud. |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Holotype: Unlocated (SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1988) Holotype: AMNH 82893, adult female [dysodes] Holotype: AMNH 82897, adult female, paratypes: AMNH, MCZ, CM [ericksoni] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus and family). Tropidophiids differ from other caenophidian snakes by the following combination of features: frontal supraorbital shelf present and demarcated medially by narrow shallow longitudinal furrow often bearing a line of foramina on the dorsal surface of the frontal; maxilla suborbital ramus extends posteriorly to posterior quarter of orbit; vomer septum transversely fenestrated; palatine vomerine process splays laterally at tips to buttress vomer posteriorly; trigeminal foramina enclosed by prootic; ectopterygoid contact with pterygoid is expanded significantly on the dorsal surface of the pterygoid body; vertebrae lack prezygapophyseal processes; expanded hypapophyses with a sharp anteroventral corner present in the midand posterior trunk vertebrae; hypapophyses extend to the cloacal vertebrae with fused lymphapophyses; anterior caudal vertebrae with reduced knob-like or spur-like haemapophyses; middle and posterior vertebrae with expanded haemapophyses fused proximally and forming a small, broad and short peduncular base. (Zaher et al. 2024) |
| Comment | Subspecies: Tropidophis melanurus bucculentus COPE, 1868 has been elevated to full species status. For illustrations see Cooper, 1958; Schwartz and Thomas, 1960; Petzold, 1963; Petzold, 1969; Schwartz and Henderson, 1985. Type species: Boa melanura SCHLEGEL 1837: 399 is the type species of the genus Tropidophis BIBRON 1840. Type genus: Tropidophis BIBRON 1840 is the type genus of the family Tropidophiidae Brongersma, 1951 (originally as Tropidophinae Brongersma, 1951: 124) Phylogeny (genus, family): Zaher et al. 2024 Key: mainland South-America: Ortega-Andrade et al. 2022: 30. Comparisons: for lists of measurements and scalation characters among Tropidophis see Hedges 2002. Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). |
| Etymology | Named after Greek melanos (μέλανος), black, and possibly Greek oura (ουρα), tail, although most specimens do not appear to be particularly dark. |
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