Ecological notes on the Annulated Treeboa (Corallus annulatus) from a Costa Rican Lowland Tropical Wet Forest

TL;DR

This paper provides ecological insights into Corallus annulatus, a rare tree boa species in Costa Rican lowland tropical wet forests, highlighting its habitat, distribution, and rarity.

Contribution

It offers the first detailed ecological notes on Corallus annulatus, including habitat preferences and distribution in Costa Rica.

Findings

Corallus annulatus inhabits primary and secondary lowland rainforests.

It is a genuinely rare species within its genus.

It is the only Corallus species on Costa Rica's Caribbean side.

Abstract

The Annulated Treeboa (Corallus annulatus) is one of nine currently recognized species in the boid genus Corallus. Its disjunct range extends from eastern Guatemala into northern Honduras, southeastern Nicaragua, northeastern Costa Rica, and southwestern Panama to northern Colombia west of the Andes. It is the only species of Corallus found on the Caribbean versant of Costa Rica, where it occurs at elevations to at least 650m and perhaps as high as 1,000m. Corallus annulatus occurs mostly in primary and secondary lowland tropical wet and moist rainforest and it appears to be genuinely rare. Besides C. cropanii and C. blombergi (the latter closely related to C. annulatus), it is the rarest member of the genus. Aside from information on habitat and activity, little is known regarding its natural history.