''Candoia aspera'', known commonly as the Papuan ground boa, New Guinea ground boa, or viper boa, is a species of

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

in the family

Boidae The Boidae, commonly known as boas or boids, are a family of nonvenomous snakes primarily found in the Americas, as well as Africa, Europe, Asia, and some Pacific Islands. Boas include some of the world's largest snakes, with the green anaconda ...

. As its common name suggests, it is found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

(in the Papua province of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

). It is a

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

species, living in the undergrowth. It is smaller than some other members of the

family. The Papuan ground boa grows to 2 to 3 feet in length. It is known to be primarily

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

. The Papuan ground boa is known to be slightly more aggressive than other ''Candoia'' species. In recent years, it has become increasingly scarce in the pet industry due to restrictions on import/export trading. Though it was more common in the past, there is still very little known about it, in particular its behaviour in the wild; for example, its lifespan is still undetermined. It got the nickname viper boa from its appearance. It looks extremely similar to the

elapid Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids ; grc, ἔλλοψ ''éllops'' "sea-fish") is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus Emydoceph ...

species ''

Acanthophis laevis The smooth-scaled death adder (''Acanthophis laevis'') is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to Southeast Asia and Oceania. Distribution and habitat ''A. laevis'' is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea ...

'', more commonly known as the "Papuan death adder." The Papuan death adder itself only resembles a viper, but is actually an elapid. However, because of the resemblance to the highly venomous Papuan death adder, many Papuan ground boas are killed out of fear, although the latter is harmless.

References

aspera Aspera may refer to: Music * Aspera (band), an American indie rock band * ''(a)spera'', a 2009 album by Mirah * Above Symmetry, a Norwegian progressive metal band originally known as Aspera * "Aspera", the lead track from ''We Will Become Like Bir ...

Reptiles described in 1877 Taxa named by Albert Günther Snakes of New Guinea {{Alethinophidia-stub