As the name suggests, Central American tree boas hail from Central America. They also inhabit the island of Trinidad & Tobago off the northeast corner of Venezuela. For this, they are also commonly called Trinidad tree boas.

Individuals are now becoming more common in the United States and it is still possible that individuals shipped here as Amazon tree boas are Central American tree boas because they are also found in Venezuela. There are numerous reports that animals being exported are collected from all over and from other countries. Still, these animals are rare and remain a bit of a mystery.

The Central American tree boa is easily distinguished from the other Corallus. The most impressive thing about this species is its length - which is rivaled in Corallus only by large emerald tree boas. These members of the Amazon tree boa complex are much larger than the other members in this complex and thus, are fairly easy to identify from other species. Another distinguishing trait of Central American tree boas is their large body scales. The maximum number of dorsal scale rows in this species is the lowest of all tree boas with the exception of the Cropan's boa. Because of their large size, the few number of scales across the back make the scales seem large and more like some colubrids than boids in appearance.
ETYMOLOGY
Originally give the name Xiphisoma ruschenbergerii by Edward Cope in 1876 [1], it was resurrected and placed into Corallus when Henderson examined the Complex in 1997. Before that time, the Central American tree boa belonged to the subspecies of Amazon tree boa attributed the name Corallus enydris cookii - which were populations found in the northern part of S. American above Amazonia as well as animals from Central America and the Caribbean Islands.

SYSTEMATICS
The first Central American tree boas were described in late 1800's but most systematists had lumped it into the species Corallus enydris (=hortulanus) and more specifically its subspecies C. e. cookii. The species we know today did not officially become a species of Corallus until 1997 [ 1]. However, the distinctness of this particular population of snakes has been known about since 1995. Based on mitochondria DNA analysis, this population clustered out to be the most outlying member of the Amazon tree boa complex [2]. Although its distribution separates the distribution of C. hortulanus from the island species of C. cookii and C. grenadensis , the other three species share greater mtDNA similarities than any of them do with C. ruschenbergerii.

Kingdom: Animalia Superfamily: Henophidia
Phylum: Chordata Family: Boidae
Subphylum: Vertebrata Subfamily: Boinae
Class: Reptilia Genus: Corallus
Order: Squamata species: ruschenbergerii
Suborder: Serpentes

COMMON NAMES

Because Central American tree boas are a new species, common names have been fairly limited for them. Most of the common names have originated through names given in popular books or via hobbyists. The most commonly used name for this species that I have seen is the Trinidad tree boa. It is also known as the black-tailed tree boa because mainland animals have tail scales which are very dark or have very dark margins giving them a black appearance.

Although it is the only species that occurs on Trinidad & Tobago, I believe Central American tree boa suits this species better. The reason is because Trinidad & Tobago represent only a small section of the distribution of this species. Unlike the Grenadian tree boa whose entire distribution is limited to the Grenadian Bank or the Amazon tree boa which is found almost exclusively in the Amazon rainforest, this species has a distribution much larger than just Trinidad & Tobago. Furthermore, this is the only species of the Amazon tree boa complex found in Central America and one of only two Corallus found north of Colombia. Thus, the name Central American tree boa also gives it more distinction as to where this species is found and its uniqueness in its distribution compared to the other three species of the complex.

English: Black-tailed Tree Boa, Trinidad Tree Boa

APPEARANCE
The coloration of Central American Tree Boas is not as variable as that of Amazon tree boas or Grenadian tree boas. Instead, the colors are typically shades of yellow, brown or gray. Individuals from mainland Central America are typically dark an colored in shades of gray or brown. As populations move eastward and southward, the coloration brightens to a light brown or bronze color. Populations located on Trinidad & Tobago are often patternless and are a pure bronze color. The ventral scales vary from white and cream to dull or bright yellow. Some individuals may have dark patterning on their ventral scales with the heaviest patterning posteriorly towards the tail [3] The dorsal patterns are primarily rhomboid in shape and situated so that the points of the rhomboids point dorsal-ventral and anterior-posterior. Sometimes the patterns will reach and be present on the ventral scales. These rhomboid blotches are mostly hollow with a light center and may darken dorsally such that the dorsal margins are black or dark brown in color. This type of darkening is present only in Central American tree boas [1]. It should also be noted that the patterning of this species can be fairly consistent and not tremendously variable as it is with some of the other species. Up to 90.5% of some populations in Central America are decorated with rhomboids [1].

The head is large and comparable to the head size of adult Corallus caninus. The scales along the head are also large and fit the pattern of the large scales in C. rushenbergerii. A thin neck follows the head and leads into the laterally flattened body. Although they appear elongated, do not let their proportions fool you. Large specimens easily reach at least 4 to 5 centimeters in diameter - the size of large northern emerald tree boas. The tail is long and close to 30 percent of the total body length [1]. It is prehensile and incredibly strong due to its length and girth.

SCALATION
The Central American tree boa easily has the distinction of being the most distinct of the common Corallus with the exception of Corallus cropanii. Its scales are quite large and glossy in appearance it reminds me of large colubrids such as Drymarchon and Spilotes. Despite its large size the number of scales along the body is the lowest of the tree boas; again with the exception of the Cropan's boa. The numbers below are taken from Henderson's 1997 work.

The maximum number of dorsal scale rows is between 38 - 48 with a mean of 44 scales. On the underside of the body, ventral scales number between 250 - 272 while there are 94 - 115 scales subcaudally. Between 11 - 16 scales encircle each eye with 3 - 10 scales between the supraocular scales above the eye. The subloreals are absent or are present up to 6 scales.

NATURAL PREDATORS
Natural predators for Corallus ruschenbergerii are not well known but it is believed that any medium to large predator will consume young and medium-sized animals. Larger specimens are perhaps one of the predators high up in the food chain and may only fall prey to the few larger predators.

PREY AND PREY CAPTURE
Prey of Central American tree boas varies. This species is an aggressive predator and feed on prey similar to that of Amazon tree boas. The primary diet of large Central American tree boas is rodents and other small mammals. Because of their larger size, they can prey on animals larger than their southern cousins. They have been documented to consume marsupials, rodents, bats and small carnivores (among them Marmosa [mouse opossum] and Herpestes [mongoose]) [1]. Like young Amazon tree boas young Central American tree boas prey on birds. However, Henderson also lists lizards in the diet of Central American tree boas [1]. Whether these lizards are found in the stomachs of both island and mainland specimens is unknown but it could be that mainland individuals follow the pattern of the mainland Amazon tree boa where young feed on birds and adults on mammals. On the other side of things, island populations of Central American tree boas would follow the pattern of Cook's and Grenadian tree boas with young animals feeding on lizards and adults feeding on mammals.

1 Henderson 1997 2 Henderson and Hedges 1995 3 Stafford and Henderson 1996

Central American tree boas have the northernmost distribution of the Corallus tree boas with exception of the annulated tree boa. Central American tree boas can be encountered from central Costa Rica southward and eastward into northern Colombia and then through northern Venezuela. They are also encountered on Trinidad and Tobago, two islands just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela.
Central American tree boas are mainly seperated from Amazon tree boas by major rivers such as the Orinoco River although individuals have been documented south of the Orinoco River [1]. The following map was constructed from Henderson [1] and Roze [2].

1 Henderson 1997 2 Roze 1966