Ruschenberger's Treeboa, Corallus ruschenbergerii (Family Boidae)

Xiphosoma ruschenbergerii Cope 1876: 129.

Xiphosoma ruschenbergii -  Boulenger 1893: 99

Corallus cookei var. ruschenbergi -  Boettger 1898: 10.

Boa ruschenbergii - Stejneger 1902: 184.

Boa salmonidia Briceño Rossi 1934: 1141.

Corallus ruschenbergerii - Henderson 1997: 212.

Size. 1.87 m SVL, 2.2 m TL. Description. Deep labial pits, nasal scales in contact, and internasal scales in contact behind the nasals will separate this snake from all other T&T snakes. Body laterally compressed; head wide, distinct from neck. Rostral slightly visible from above; loreal divided; supraoculars and postoculars divided into small scales; 8–13 supralabials, 12–15 infralabials; 252–268 ventrals; anal single; single subcaudals 100–112. Smooth, dorsal scales in 38–45 rows at midbody. Dorsum khaki-brown to yellow-brown. Males with larger anal spurs than females. 

Distribution. Costa Rica, to Colombia and northern Venezuela, the Isla de Margarita; and Trinidad, Tobago. Life History. An arboreal, nocturnal, forest and forest-edge boid that occasionally descends to the ground. Readily seen at night using a flashlight and searching the canopy, common in Caroni Swamp and many locations in the Northern Range. Diet includes birds, mice, squirrels, bats, mongoose, porcupine rats, and mouse opossum. Reproduction. Courtship and mating in February; 20–30 young born August.

Acevedo-Charry, Orlando and Jose Rancés Caicedo-Portilla. 2016. Corallus ruschenbergerii (Rushcenberger Tree Boa) Diet. Herpetological Review 47 (1): 143-144

Boettger, O. 1898. Katalog der Reptilien-Sammlung im Museum der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Frankfurt/M. 2.Teil (Schlangen). Frankfurt/M (Gebr. Knauer), i-ix + 1-160.

Boos, H.E.A. 2001. The snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. Texas A&M University Press, 270 pp.

Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp.

Briceno-Rossi, A.L. 1934. El problema del ofidismo en Venezuela. Bol. Min. Salubr. Agric. Cria, Venezuela, Caracas, 1: 1079-1177

Cope, E.D. 1875. On the Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica with notes on the herpetology and ichthyology of Nicaragua and Peru. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia N.S. (2) 8: 93-183.

Esqueda; L.F. & E. La Marca. 2004. Geographic Distribution (Serpentes): Corallus ruschenbergerii. Herpetological Review 35(2):190

Henderson, R. W. 2002. Neotropical Treeboas. Krieger Publ. Company, Malabar, 198 pp.

Henderson, R. W., Pauers, M. J. and Colston, T. J. 2013. On the congruence of morphology, trophic ecology, and phylogeny in Neotropical treeboas (Squamata: Boidae: Corallus). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 109: 466–475. doi: 10.1111/bij.12052

Henderson, Robert W. 1997. A Taxonomic Review of the Corallus hortulanus complex of Neotropical Tree Boas. Carib. J. Sci. 33 (3-4): 198-221.

Henderson, Robert W. and Michael J. Pauers 2012. On the Diets of Neotropical Treeboas (Squamata: Boidae: Corallus). South American Journal of Herpetology 7 (2): 172-180.

Henderson, Robert W.; Michael J. Pauers and Timothy J. Colston 2013. On the congruence of morphology, trophic ecology, and phylogeny in Neotropical treeboas (Squamata: Boidae: Corallus). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, DOI: 10.1111/bij.12052

Kornacker, Paul M.;Dederichs, Ursula 1998. Herpetologische Eindrücke einer Venezuelareise - Teil 2: Die Llanos. Elaphe 6 (3): 68-73

Markezich, A.L. 2002. New distribution records of reptiles from Western Venezuela. Herpetological Review 33 (1): 69-74. McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.

Natera-Mumaw, Marco; Luis Felipe Esqueda-González & Manuel Castelaín-Fernández 2015. Atlas Serpientes de Venezuela Santiago de Chile, Dimacofi Negocios Avanzados S.A., 456 pp.

Pérez-Santos,C. & Moreno, A.G. 1988. Ofidios de Colombia. Museo reegionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, Monographie VI, 517 pp.

Rivas Fuenmayor, Gilson and Cesar Luis Barrio Amorós 2005. New Amphibian and Reptile records from Cojedes State, Venezuela. Herpetological Review 36 (2):205-209.

Sandoval, Luis and Gerardo Chaves 2014. Corallus ruschenbergeri. Behavior. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (2): 287.

 Solórzano, A. 2006. Snakes of the Osa Peninsula [Costa Rica]. Reptilia (GB) (48): 30-34.

Solórzano, A. 2006. Die Schlangen der Osa-Halbinsel [Costa Rica]. Reptilia (Münster) 11 (61): 28-31 Stejneger,L. 1902. An annotated list of batrachians and reptiles collected in the vicinity of La Guaira, Venezuela, with descriptions of two new species of snakes. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 24 [1901]: 179-192.