Martinique Boa (Boa sp.)

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This taxon is known from subfossil remains that were found on the island of Martinique in the Lesser Antilles; some of these remains are bones that originate from archaeological deposits and that were manufactured into beads.

The Martinique Boa might have been a distinct species or may have been conspecific with either the Dominicia Boa (Boa nebulosa (Lazell)) (see photo below) or the St. Lucia Boa (Boa orophias L.), which are its closest neighbors and which both are sometimes regarded as subspecies of the South-American Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor L.).

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References:

[1] Corentin Bochaton: First records of modified snake bones in the Pre-Columbian archaeological record of the Lesser Antilles: Cultural and paleoecological implications. The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 17(1): 126-141. 2022
[2] Roger S. Thorpe; Anita Malhotra: Systematics and biogeography of snakes of the genus Boa in the Lesser Antilles. Caribbean Herpetology 88:1-14. 2023

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edited: 29.02.2024