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Boa sigma (SMITH, 1943)

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Higher TaxaBoidae (Boinae), Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mexican West Coast Boa Constrictor 
SynonymConstrictor constrictor sigma SMITH 1943: 411
Boa constrictor sigma — BONNY 2007
Boa sigma — CARD et al. 2016
Boa sigma — LOC-BARRAGÁN et al. 2016
Boa sigma — WOOLRICH-PIÑA et al. 2016
Boa sigma — JOHNSON et al. 2017
Boa sigma — CRUZ-SÁENZ et al. 2017
Boa sigma — LUJA et al. 2017
Boa sigma — WOOLRICH-PIÑA et al. 2018
Boa sigma — LOC-BARRAGÁN et al. 2019
Boa sigma — LEMOS-ESPINAL et al. 2019
Boa sigma — LEMOS-ESPINAL & SMITH 2020
Boa sigma — VAN DEVENDER et al. 2020 
DistributionMexico (Jalisco, Nayarit, Durango, Sinaloa, Morelos, Sonora)

Type locality: María Madre Island, Tres Marías Islands.  
Reproduction 
TypesHolotype: USNM 46484, paratypes: USNM, CAS 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (sigma): “Like Constrictor constrictor imperator, but ventrals more numerous, 258-259 as compared with the range of 225-253 in mainland specimens” (Smith 1943: 411). 
CommentSynonymy: Card et al. 2016 found genetic evidence that B. sigma may be a valid species along the Pacific versant of Mexico. However, they did not provide any morphological or other details that may diagnose this taxon. There seems to be substantial overlap in ranges of B. imperator and B. sigma, especially in Oaxaca (the North and Central American clades in Card et al. 2016), but it remains unclear of there is any hybridization in this area. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin sigma, eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. [?]. 
References
  • Bonny, Klaus 2007. Die Gattung Boa. KUS-Verlag, 262 pp. [review in Elaphe 17 (1): 30]
  • Card, D.C., Schield, D.R., Adams, R.H., Corbin, A.B., Perry, B.W., Andrew, A.L., Pasquesi, G.I.M., Smith, E.N., Jezkova, T., Boback, S.M., Booth, W., Castoe, T.A. 2016. Phylogeographic and population genetic analyses reveal multiple species of Boa and independent origins of insular dwarfism. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 102: 104-116 - get paper here
  • Johnson, J. D., L. D. Wilson, V. Mata-Silva, E. García-Padilla, and D. L. DeSantis. 2017. The endemic herpetofauna of Mexico: organisms of global significance in severe peril. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(3): 544–620 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A conservation checklist of the herpetofauna of Morelos, with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 941: 121-144 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Sinaloa, Mexico with a conservation status summary and comparisons with neighboring states. ZooKeys 931: 85-114 - get paper here
  • Loc-Barragán JA, Smith GR, Woolrich-Piña GA, Lemos-Espinal JA 2024. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nayarit, Mexico with conservation status and comparison with adjoining States. Herpetozoa 37: 25-42 - get paper here
  • Loc-Barragán, J. A. 2024. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico 6: Amphibians and Reptiles of the Municipality of Bahía de Banderas. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society, 59(5), 65-74
  • Loc-Barragán, Jesús A., Juan Pablo Ramírez-Silva, and Guillermo A. Woolrich-Piña. 2016. Boa sigma (Smith, 1943). Diet. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3(4): 1015–1017 - get paper here
  • Loc-Barragán, Jesús A.; Zarah I. Sosa-Hernández, Christoph I. Grünwald, Emmanuel Miramontes-Medina, Jorge A. Bañuelos-Alamillo, Guillermo A. Woolrich-Piña and David Lazcano 2019. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico 3: Amphibians and Reptiles of the Municipality of Huajicori. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 54(10): 205-213 - get paper here
  • Luja VH, López JA, Cruz-Elizalde R, Ramírez-Bautista A 2017. Herpetofauna inside and outside from a natural protected area: the case of Reserva Estatal de la Biósfera Sierra San Juan, Nayarit, Mexico. Nature Conservation 21: 15-38 - get paper here
  • Nolasco-Luna JR, Barraza-Soltero IK, López-Montes MA, Moreno-López JA, Escobedo-Galván AH 2022. An updated checklist of the herpetofauna from Isla María Cleofas, Mexico. Check List 18(1): 241-252 - get paper here
  • Salcido-Rodríguez, Israel; Francisco Isaac Hernández-Valadez , Adriana Elizabeth Castillo-Franco , Daniel Cruz-Sáenz , Edgar Emmanuel Hernández-Juárez , David Lazcano , Lydia Allison Fucsko and Larry David Wilson 2023. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Western Mexico 31: Herpetofauna from Sierra de Tesistán, Zapopan,. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 58(10):165-171 - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1943. Summary of the collections of snakes and crocodilians made in Mexico under the Walter Rathbone Bacon Traveling Scholarship. Proceeding of the U. S. National Museum, 93 (3169): 393-504 - get paper here
  • Turner, D. S., Van Devender, T. R., Hale, S. F., Zach, R., Martínez, R., Van Devender, R. W., ... & Paholski, C. 2022. Amphibians and reptiles of Rancho Las Playitas area, Sonora, Mexico. Sonoran Herpetologist, 35, 50-59 - get paper here
  • VAN DEVENDER, T. R., J. C. RORABAUGH, B. DIETRICH, S.-M. J. ABEL, H. SILVA-KURUMIYA, G. YANES-ARVAYO, P. C. ROSEN, G. M. FERFUSON, S. J. TRAGESER, J. M. GALAZ-GALAZ, S. JACOBS, J. H. VALDEZ-VILLARVICENDCIO, R. W. VAN DEVENDER, G. MOLINA-PADILLA, A. L 2020. Distribution and Ecology of the Northernmost Mexican West Coast Boa Constrictor (Boa sigma). Herpetological Review 51: 433-438.
  • Woolrich-Piña, Guillermo A, Paulino Ponce-Campos, Jesús Loc-Barragán, Juan Pablo Ramírez-Silva, Vicente Mata-Silva, Jerry D. Johnson, Elí García-Padilla and Larry David Wilson. 2016. The herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (2): 376-448 - get paper here
 
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