The Conception Bank silver boa (''Chilabothrus argentum''), also known as the Conception Bank boa or silver boa, is a species of

boa Kwon Bo-ah (; born November 5, 1986), known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actress. One of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers, she has been dubbed the " Queen of K- ...

described in May 2016 by a team of researchers from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. It is only known from the Conception Island Bank in

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the arc ...

. It is the first known discovery of a

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

boa species in 73 years. It is named for its unique silver color and the fact that the first specimen was found in a silver palm.

Description

Conception Bank silver boa has silver to tan dorsal background coloration, with or without scattered dark brown scales. Ventral scales are pure cream-white. They measure in snout–vent length and weigh . Tail length varies between .

Habitat and conservation

The Conception Bank silver boa is largely

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose num ...

and has been found in silver palm ''

Coccothrinax argentata ''Coccothrinax argentata'', commonly called the Florida silver palm, is a species of palm tree. It is native to south Florida, southeast Mexico, Colombia and to the West Indies, where it is found in the Bahamas, the southwest Caribbean and the ...

'' and gumbo-limbo ''

Bursera simaruba ''Bursera simaruba'', commonly known as gumbo-limbo, copperwood, chaca, West Indian birch, naked Indian, and turpentine tree, is a tree species in the family Burseraceae, native to the Neotropics, from South Florida to Mexico and the Caribb ...

''. The species is known from six individuals encountered in July 2015 by a research team from Harvard University, and from the

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

of two individuals collected in October 2015. It has been assessed by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...

(IUCN) and is considered " Critically Endangered" in view of its small area of occurrence as well as potential threats posed by introduced species, habitat loss, and (illegal) pet trade. Some level of protection is offered by the Conception Island Bank being designated as a national park, and by the relative remoteness of the islands.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q24910379 Chilabothrus Reptiles of the Bahamas Endemic fauna of the Bahamas Reptiles described in 2016 Snakes of the Caribbean