''Eunectes deschauenseei'', commonly known as the dark-spotted anaconda or De Schauensee's anaconda, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of snake in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Boinae The Boinae are a purported subfamily of boas found in Central and South America, as well as the West Indies. In the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), ''Boinae'' is considered an invalid synonym of Boidae. Genera *) Not includ ...

of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

. The species is native to northeastern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. Like all boas, it is a nonvenomous constrictor. No

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are currently recognized.

Taxonomy

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''deschauenseei'', is in honor of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee (; January 4, 1901 – April 24, 1984) was a Swiss-American ornithologist. Early life and education Meyer de Schauensee was born January 4, 1901 in Rome, Italy, one of two sons, to Baron Frederick Meyer de Schauens ...

, who donated a specimen to the

Philadelphia Zoo The Philadelphia Zoo is a zoo located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River. It was the first true zoo in the United States; it was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859 ...

in 1924. The type locality given is "probably collected on the island of Marajo at the mouth of the Amazon".

Distribution and habitat

''Eunectes deschauenseei'' is found in

, in northern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

(the

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

and

Amapá Amapá (; ) is one of the 26 federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil. It is in the North Region, Brazil, North Region of Brazil. It is Federative units of Brazil#List, the second-least populous state and the eighteenth-largest state by area ...

states) and

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

. ''E. deschauenseei'' is a semi-aquatic species usually found in swampy, seasonally flooded freshwater areas at elevations below .

Description

Adult males of ''E. deschauenseei'' measure and adult females in snout-to-vent length (SVL).

Reproduction

Vitellogenesis Vitellogenesis is the process of yolk protein formation in the oocytes during sexual maturation. The term ''vitellogenesis'' comes from the Latin language, Latin ''vitellus'' ("egg yolk"). Yolk proteins, such as lipovitellin and phosvitin, provid ...

in ''E. deschauenseei'' probably occurs from autumn to spring (May to December).

Gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregn ...

may last as long as nine months. Litter size among five gravid females ranged from 3 to 27 (mean 10.6). Newborns measure in snout–vent length.

Conservation

The

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

habitat of ''E. deschauenseei'' is highly threatened by

agricultural expansion Agricultural expansion describes the growth of agricultural land ( arable land, pastures, etc.) especially in the 20th and 21st centuries. The agricultural expansion is often explained as a direct consequence of the global increase in food and e ...

, but the threat posed on this species is not known.

Taxonomy

Distribution and habitat

Description

Reproduction

Conservation

References

Further reading