Emerald tree boa

Corallus caninus · The emerald tree boa is a nonvenomous, bright green snake that lives in the rainforests of South America.

Emerald tree boa
Photo: Ltshears, CC BY-SA 3.0
Emerald tree boa
Photo: Ltshears, CC BY-SA 3.0
Emerald tree boa
Photo: Jyothis, CC BY-SA 3.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderSquamata
FamilyBoidae
GenusCorallus
SpeciesCorallus caninus

Where it lives

Rainforests of the Amazon basin and the Guianas.

Fun facts

  • Emerald tree boas have front teeth that are probably bigger for their size than those of any other non-venomous snake.
  • Baby emerald tree boas aren't green: they start out orange or brick-red and turn emerald green after about 9 to 12 months.
  • This snake looks a lot like the green tree python of Asia and Australia, but they are only distantly related, a case of convergent evolution.
  • Because its metabolism is extremely slow, an emerald tree boa eats much less often than ground-dwelling snakes, sometimes with months between meals.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).