Corallus cropanii

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	REPTILIA	SQUAMATA	BOIDAE

Scientific Name:

Corallus cropanii

Species Authority:

(Hoge, 1953)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Cropan's Boa

Synonym/s:

Xenoboa cropanii Hoge, 1953

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Endangered B1ab(i,ii,iii) ver 3.1

Year Published:

2010

Assessor/s:

Marques, O.

Reviewer/s:

Böhm, M., Collen, B. & Ram, M. (Sampled Red List Index Coordinating Team)

Contributor/s:

De Silva, R., Milligan, HT, Wearn, O.R., Wren, S., Zamin, T., Sears, J., Wilson, P., Lewis, S., Lintott, P. & Powney, G.

Justification:
Corallus cropanii has been assessed as Endangered because it has an extent of occurrence of only approximately 300 km² and is restricted to one location which is threatened by the proximity of a major metropolitan area and a continuing decline in the extent and quality of its habitat. Further research to establish the population of this species is required as it may qualify for a more threatened category.

History:

2000

–

Endangered

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species has a very limited distribution at Miracatu in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The range of this species is known to be 300 km² (Stafford and Henderson 1996). This species is only known to be found between 40 and 45 m above sea level.
Countries:	Native: Brazil (São Paulo)
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	This species is arguably the rarest boid in the world, but is unquestionably the rarest boid in the New World (Stafford and Henderson 1996). Despite over 100 years of sampling, the Instituto Butantan has only collected four specimens of the species. Two specimens were collected in the 1960s and another in 1970. The last specimen was collected on 26 May 2003 (33 years after). In comparison, another sympatric boid of the same genus, C. hortulanus has been well sampled by the Instituto Butantan (O. Marques pers. comm.). There are many people living within the distribution of these species, who usually collect several snakes and send these to the Instituto Butantan. Therefore the lack of specimens of this large snake is likely to reflect genuine rarity.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Population:

This species is arguably the rarest boid in the world, but is unquestionably the rarest boid in the New World (Stafford and Henderson 1996). Despite over 100 years of sampling, the Instituto Butantan has only collected four specimens of the species. Two specimens were collected in the 1960s and another in 1970. The last specimen was collected on 26 May 2003 (33 years after). In comparison, another sympatric boid of the same genus, C. hortulanus has been well sampled by the Instituto Butantan (O. Marques pers. comm.). There are many people living within the distribution of these species, who usually collect several snakes and send these to the Instituto Butantan. Therefore the lack of specimens of this large snake is likely to reflect genuine rarity.

Population Trend:

Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species is found on or near the coastal plain in the southern portion of the Atlantic Forest (O. Marques pers. comm.). This large and conspicuous snake feeds on mammals. An arboreal tendency is obvious, but its morphology (size of tail and lateral compression) suggests that this snake spends more time on the ground than the sympatric boid C. hortulanus (Pizzatto et al. 2007).
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	The three localities from which this species has been taken all occur within a narrow strip of degraded forest, and all are within 50-100 km of Sao Paulo. The Atlantic Forest was estimated to have at one time covered 1.0-1.5 million km sq., but 90 to 98% of habitat has been lost to anthropogenic activities or has become severely degraded. Most of the clearing is a result of shifting agriculture. Stafford and Henderson (1996) state that within its 300 km² range, the area of suitable habitat is significantly less.

Major Threat(s):

The three localities from which this species has been taken all occur within a narrow strip of degraded forest, and all are within 50-100 km of Sao Paulo. The Atlantic Forest was estimated to have at one time covered 1.0-1.5 million km sq., but 90 to 98% of habitat has been lost to anthropogenic activities or has become severely degraded. Most of the clearing is a result of shifting agriculture. Stafford and Henderson (1996) state that within its 300 km² range, the area of suitable habitat is significantly less.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	There are no known species-specific conservation measures in place. Conservation measures, such as area management, are required to reduce the rate of habitat loss occurring in the Atlantic Forest. Further research is required to assess and monitor the population of this species, due to its restricted range and presumed small population size.

Conservation Actions:

There are no known species-specific conservation measures in place. Conservation measures, such as area management, are required to reduce the rate of habitat loss occurring in the Atlantic Forest. Further research is required to assess and monitor the population of this species, due to its restricted range and presumed small population size.

Bibliography [top]

	IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2010.4). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 27 October 2010). Marques, O.A.V. and Cavalheiro, J. 1998. Corallus cropanii: Habitat and Diet. Herpetological Review 29(3): 170. Pizzatto, L., Marques, O.A.V. and Martins, M. 2007. Ecomorphology of Boine snakes, with emphasis on South American forms. In: Henderson, R.W. and Powell, R. (eds), Biology of the Boas and Pythons, pp. 35-48. Eagle Mountain Publishing, Utah. Stafford, P.J. and Henderson, R.W. 1996. Kaleidoscopic Tree Boas. Krieger Publishing Company, Florida.

IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2010.4). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 27 October 2010).

Marques, O.A.V. and Cavalheiro, J. 1998. Corallus cropanii: Habitat and Diet. Herpetological Review 29(3): 170.

Pizzatto, L., Marques, O.A.V. and Martins, M. 2007. Ecomorphology of Boine snakes, with emphasis on South American forms. In: Henderson, R.W. and Powell, R. (eds), Biology of the Boas and Pythons, pp. 35-48. Eagle Mountain Publishing, Utah.

Stafford, P.J. and Henderson, R.W. 1996. Kaleidoscopic Tree Boas. Krieger Publishing Company, Florida.

Citation:	Marques, O. 2010. Corallus cropanii. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 May 2012.
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