what seperates them

[Bartman]

what seperates a boa from a python. The only thing i could think of was that pythons have heat pits and lay eggs...from what i understand boa's dont. Are there any other characterisitics that im missing?

[Dark_Angel_25]

some Boas do lay eggs.

[Bartman]

Thats what i thought, so why are those snakes considered boas?

[Tigergenesis]

I believe some boas have pits as well.

[Bartman]

So anyone know how they classify boas and pythons???

thanks!

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

Boas and pythons differ mainly by the arrangement of bones in their skulls. Also, pythons are old world snakes while boas are new world snakes. That's the general anyways..
Also, the heat pits are between the labial scales in boas while they are within the scales on pythons.
And for the record, Casarea dussumieri, Bolyeria multocarinata, Calabars and Corallus cropanii are egg laying boas. Noted if you follow taxonomy changes and stuff..
Xain

[Jeff_Favelle]

So anyone know how they classify boas and pythons???

Order: Squamata
Sub-order: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Subfamilies: Boinae (Boas) and Pythoninae (Pythons)

[Tigergenesis]

Casarea dussumieri, Bolyeria multocarinata, Calabars and Corallus cropanii

What are the common names of these species?

Thanks!

[sapphire_moon]

There is a thread on what makes snakes different from each other on the general forum. lol

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

Sorry, I ment to add the common..

Casarea dussumieri = Round Island Boa
Bolyeria multocarinata = Round Island bolyeria boa (possible extintion)
Calabaria reinhardtii = Calabar Burrowing "Python" (Boa)
Corallus cropanii = Cropan's boa
Xain

[Tigergenesis]

Thanks. I was aware of the round Island Boa and Calabar Boa laying eggs. Never heard of the others.

Two other egg laying boas: Arabian Sand Boa and West African Sand Boa (aka Saharan Sand Boa)

[HERPSKEEPER]

If boas are new world, then what about the sand boas that are slithering around africa and the middle east area?

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

If boas are new world, then what about the sand boas that are slithering around africa and the middle east area?



Just a general rule, in this hobby there are very few absolute things..
Sand boas are (semi) fossorial snakes and they are also the only boas (E. jaculus) species found in europe. They deplete most of the rules of boas..
Also they are in the subfamily Erycinae which aren't considered to be the "true" boas such as the species in the subfamily Boinae.
Just what Im figuring..
Xain

[JimmyDavid]

All this boa and python talk got me thinking. Is it possible to cross a boa and a python? What do you think?

[Bartman]

i would highly doubt it..its like crossing a lynx with a tiger...both in the cat family but are diff sub species..its like pythons and boas are both boidae or whatever but diff sub species

[C_Ellenzweig]

I have a friend who keeps his male Columbian Boa with his female ball python. (I am in no way condoning this and I have recommended that he separate them many times) They are always curled up together, but no eggs.

[Jeff_Favelle]

i would highly doubt it..its like crossing a lynx with a tiger...both in the cat family but are diff sub species..its like pythons and boas are both boidae or whatever but diff sub species

LOL! No Bartman, they separate WAU further up than the sub-specific level! Sub-species is pretty much the lowest (most detailed) level of classification (aside from population and individuals). Boas and Pythons are separated WAY up at the Sub-Family level. Thus no boas or pythons share the same genus, species, or subspecies denominations.

Family
Sub-Family
Genus
Species
Subspecies.

Subspecies is the last level of classifying them, so of course they are going to be separate there.

[JimmyDavid]

ok, now i'm confused. Isn't taxonomy only a definition given from humans to better group all creatures? Isn't taxonomy changing all the time (and sometimes not all scientists agree with the same definitions)? So, let's say a boa constrictor CAN'T cross with Liasis amethystina because they are not the same species(and notice that only a year ago they were calling it Morelia amethistina), but if one day scientists agree that the scrub has more in common with new world boas than with pythons and rearrange taxonomy ...then it's ok! "I can now pronounce you snake and husband because your paper work checks and you are now grouped in the same species. Have fun."
Nah, Nature doesn't care for definitions. There's gotta be more to it.

[Bartman]

lol, i was close :p

I agree with jimmy, kinda...there has to be more to it then just names and things.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Yeah, then why stop there? I mean, if you're going to say its possible for a LIVE-BEARING boa to breed with an EGG laying python, then why not cross a cat with a goldfish? Or a bird with an earthworm.

Yes taxonomy is an artificial way of grouping like creatures together and yes you can breed outside of genus (Jungle Corns, Lyger's, etc etc), but when the physiology is so radically different, as in the case of ovoviparity and viviparity, its not likely to result in any offspring.

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

I think they were following more along hybridizing the egg-laying boas.
As being, I just dont think the DNA, RNA, chromosomes, genotypes, cell cycle, karyotype, ect would work being alot of it is base pairing and compatable matching and other stuff I dont understand and failed to pay attention to in class.
Anyways, that's what I'm thinking. If Im wrong, oops.
Xain

[JimmyDavid]

Jeff, i didn't say it had to work. I just said that there's gotta be more to it... You're probably right anyway, most likely it wouldn't work, but at least a boa and a python have a chance. Now, a cat and a goldfish?!? You can't compare.

[rwg]

The other thing you're up against is that the two animals would have to identify each other as mates, and not predator/prey/landscape feature. Given that boas and pythons are very different genetically, and given that for the most part their ranges dont overlap, I'd expect this to be quite difficult.

Roy G

[JimmyDavid]

Their ranges don't overlap at all. This would have to be done in captivity.
I've seen a Boa/anaconda cross captured in the wild, so we are getting closer. Pythons could have compatible genes with a boa, you never know.
Somehow is the ovoviparity and viviparity thing that mostly sets them apart.

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

Boa/anaconda cross captured in the wild, so we are getting closer.



Not really being Eunectes and Boa are in the same family.
Xain

[JimmyDavid]

What are you talking about? Pythons are also boidae (just not the same genus).
But as i said, let's forget names, here. I look at an Anaconda and see it as far from a boa as any python.
What really sets species apart anyway? Not all vipers are live bearers and so far they are all still VIPERS...
Shouldn't that be rearranged then?

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

What are you talking about? Pythons are also boidae



What I am saying is that Genera Boa and the Genera Eunectes are both in the subfamily Boinae, (While pythons are Phytonidae) so generally they are more genetically compatable than say Cropan's and GTP.


I look at an Anaconda and see it as far from a boa as any python

I see the same. I mean, the facial/head structure looks completely different and 'Condas lack labial pits..

Boas and pythons mainly differ from bone arrangement in their skulls. Like the supra-orbital bone on the top of the python's head. Boas do not have this.
Pythons and boas also have different breeding habits. DNA, RNA, chromosomes, genotypes, cell cycle, karyotype, ect are basically base pairing and compatable matching and so forth and so on.
This is a basic reason to why the two boas matched.. Not to mention Oogenisis, as I would imagine would, be very different from egg layers and live births.
An actual taxonist or breeder could of course further explain this.
_

Not all vipers are live bearers and so far they are all still VIPERS...



Good point. However, snakes and any other animal are not classed whether or not they can lay eggs. They are classed by their ecology, morphological diversity. Their phylogenetic relationships with one another, their genealogical background and so forth and so on. Group declaring on a snake based on whether it is Viviparous or Ovoviviparous would just be to easy.
Xain