Family Boidae
Chilabothrus inornatus (Reinhardt, 1843)
Figure 4A–H
Materials examined. PUERTO RICO – Arecibo • Mata de Plátano Field Station and Nature Reserve; 18.414, -66.729; 151 m above sea level; Justin Matthew Bernstein, Camilo Andrés Calderón-Acevedo, Pedro Ivo Mônico, Lázaro Willian Viñola-Lopez, J. Angel Soto-Centeno; Individual 1–8 – adult individuals found hanging on branches or on rock ledges of entrance of Cueva de los Culebrones, either perched or dangling vertically. One individual observed eating Mormoops blainvillei . All individuals seen at once at 7:00 PM; Individuals 9–11 – juvenile individuals found hanging verticlles from branches or rock ledges of entrance of Cueva de los Culebrones at 7:00 PM. All juveniles seen at the same time as Individuals 1–8; Individual 12 – found inside Cueva de los Culebrones ~17.6 m depth moving along the ground; Individuals 13–14 – adult skeletons, found at ~17.6 m depth in Cueva de los Culebrones; one skeleton ~30 m past cave entrance; second skeleton ~15 m before cave thermocline at ~20 m depth. Individuals 15–16 – live adults, found coiled on limestone wall ledges ~1 m above the ground at the point of the thermocline inside Cueva de los Culebrones, at ~20 m depth.
Identification. As the only boa on Puerto Rico, this snake is unequivocally identifiable as E. inornatus . Its large, stout body, grey/silver scales, and the lack of labial thermic receptors are key characters of this species. Chilabothrus inornatus is distinguished from C. granti by the latter only being found on satellite islands (Culebra, and islets to the east) and C. monensis only found on Mona Island. Bones found in Cueva de los Culebrones were identified by the enlarged, recurved teeth characteristic of boids; all other snakes on the island lack these and have much smaller teeth.