Charina trivirgata
| Rosy boa | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Boidae |
| Genus: | Charina |
| Species: | C. trivirgata |
| Binomial name | |
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Charina trivirgata Cope, 1861 |
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| Synonyms | |
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The rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata) is a species of snake of the family Boidae. The rosy boa is one of only two members of that family native to the United States, the other being the rubber boa (Charina bottae). The rosy boa is native to the American Southwest, and adjacent Baja California and Sonora, Mexico.
These small, attractive snakes normally attain a length of 17–34 in (43–86 cm), although some coastal specimens from California reach 36–44 in (91–112 cm). A large adult has a body width about the diameter of a golf ball. Coloration in rosy boas is highly variable, and usually locale-specific. The common name is derived from the rosy or salmon coloration that is common on the belly of rosy boas originating from coastal southern California and Baja Mexico. Most rosy boas do not have this ventral coloration, but instead have a series of dark to orange spots on a light-colored background.
Almost all rosy boas have at least some trace of three longitudinal stripes, one down the center of the back, and two on the lower sides. The appearance of these stripes varies widely, from extremely straight and having high contrast with the interspaces, to extremely broken with almost no contrast with the interspaces. Stripe colors can be orange, maroon, rust, brown, or black. Interspace colors can be shades of light to dark gray, yellow, or tan.
The rosy boa is found in the southwestern United States in the states of California and Arizona, and northwestern Mexico in the states of Baja California and Sonora. In California, the rosy boa ranges throughout the Colorado and Mojave Deserts and also occupies the coastal areas of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego Counties. In Arizona, the rosy boa occupies the Mojave Desert and the western areas of the Sonoran Desert. It is absent from the eastern and northern halves of the state. In Sonora, the rosy boa ranges from the border with the United States south throughout the Sonoran Desert to at least as far south as Ortiz. In Baja California, the rosy boa is almost ubiquitous ranging throughout the entire peninsula except in areas of extremely dry or rockless desert.
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Wikipedia