A new study published in Reptiles & Amphibians reports the first-ever sighting of the Black False Boa (Pseudoboa nigra) in Peru. This discovery extends the known range of the species, pushing it about 1,395 km northwest from its previously documented location in Mapinguari NP, Brazil. The Black False Boa had also been found in Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina, and this recent finding adds Peru to the list.
The genus Pseudoboa contains six recognized species. The Black False Boa is a snake that typically lives in forested areas and open-vegetation formations. They are known to inhabit diverse ecosystems, including the Amazon and Atlantic Forests, Caatinga, Cerrado, and Chaco. Their diet consists mainly of lizards, but they also eat lizard eggs, small mammals, and frogs.
Researchers found two individuals—a juvenile male and an adult female—in agricultural zones near the city of Tarapoto in Peru. The snakes were found at night, moving in areas with rice fields and secondary vegetation. The habitat is described as part of the seasonally dry forest of the Huallaga. Although farming has fragmented the forest in this area, some native vegetation still exists. The discovery was confirmed through both physical characteristics and genetic sequencing. The specimens are now part of the herpetological collection at the Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad (CORBIDI) in Lima, Peru. This new record of the Black False Boa in Peru shows that there is still much to learn about the distribution and behavior of species, even in well-studied areas. The researchers recommend more surveys to gather additional data on the snake's population status and ecology in Peru.
Citation: García-Ayachi, L.A., S.A. Ramírez-Castillo, D. Deza, V. Flores, A. Catenazzi, P.J. Venegas. 2025. First record of Pseudoboa nigra (Duméril, Bibron &Amp; Duméril, 1854) (Squamata: Colubridae) in Peru. Reptiles & Amphibians 32: e23302.
RSS Feed