Corallus cookii

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: ParaHoxozoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Olfactores
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Sauropsida
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Cladus: Diapsida
Cladus: Neodiapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Cladus: Unidentata, Episquamata
Cladus: Toxicofera
Subordo: Serpentes
Superfamilia: Booidea

Familia: Boidae
Subfamilia: Boinae
Genus: Corallus
Species: Corallus cookii
Name

Corallus cookii (Gray, 1842)

Type locality: "West Indies"; restricted to “St. Vincent” by Henderson 1997: 210

Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.1.50
Synonyms

Corallus hortulanus Melanea Gray 1849: 98
Boa cooki — Ihering 1911: 317
Boa enydris cookii — Stull 1935: 388
Corallus enydris cookii - Forcart 1951
Corallus hortulanus cookii — Roze 1966: 61
Corallus enhydris cookii - Welch 1994
Corallus hortulanus — McDiarmid, Campbell & Touré 1999: 191

Vernacular names
English: Cook's Tree Boa, Cooke's Tree Boa
References

Gray, J. E. 1842. Synopsis of the species of prehensile-tailed snakes, or family Boidae. Zool. Misc. 2: 41–46.
Henderson, R. W. 2002. Neotropical Treeboas. Krieger Publ. Company, Malabar, 198 pp.
McDiarmid,R.W.; Campbell,J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
Corallus cookii at the New Reptile Database. Accessed on 10 Mar 2008.

Corallus cookii, also known as Cook's tree boa[3] or Cooke's tree boa,[4] is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Boidae. The species is endemic to the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean. There are no recognized subspecies.[3]
Etymology

The specific name, cookii, is in honor of English artist and naturalist Edward William Cooke.[4]
Description

C. cookii is similar to C. hortulana and C. grenadensis, only smaller, with adults reaching a total length (including tail) of 5 feet (152 cm), and being mainly gray or brown in color.[5] Not more than a few specimens exist in captivity.[5] The taxonomy of the Corallus hortulanaus complex has undergone a number of revisions. The main morphological differences between C. cookii and C. hortulana are coloration and scale count. "Corallus cooki is most easily distinguished from other members of the C. hortulanus complex by its color pattern. It lacks the color variation (pale yellow, orange, red, many shades of brown) found in C. hortulanus and C. grenadensis. Likewise, the main element of the dorsal pattern is relatively constant, and it rarely occurs in populations outside of St. Vincent. The diamond-shape pattern characteristic of C. ruschenbergerii does not occur in this species. Corallus cooki is distinguishable from C. hortulanus by maximum number of dorsal scale rows: invariably less than 50 in C. cooki (39–48; x = 43.9 +/- 0.34) and almost always more than 50 in C. hortulanus (47– 63; x = 55.0 +/- 0.17; specimens with less than 50 occur occasionally in Guyana, Suriname, Bolivia, and Peru)."[6]
Reproduction

C. cookii is oviviparous.[7]
Geographic range

Endemic to the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean, C. cookii is known only from a few locations on the island. The type locality given is "West Indies", which was restricted to "St. Vincent" by Henderson (1997).[2]
Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of C. cooki is forest, but it is also abundant in urban areas. It is found from sea level to an altitude of 500 m (1,600 ft).[1]
References

Henderson RW, Powell R (2021). "Corallus cookii ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: https://dx.doi.org?10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T203209A2762187.en. Accessed on 05 April 2022.
McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
"Corallus cookii ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Corallus cookii, p. 58).
Stafford PJ, Henderson RW (1996). Kaleidoscopic Tree Boas: The Genus Corallus of Tropical America. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 120 pp. ISBN 0-89464-975-2.
"Corallus cookii". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2024-03-29.

Species Corallus cookii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.