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BOA

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 94 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BOA , a name formerly applied to all large serpents which, devoid of See also:

poison fangs, kill their See also:prey by constriction; but now confined to that subfamily of the Boidae which are devoid of See also:teeth in the praemaxilla and are without supraorbital bones. The others are known as pythons (q.v.). The true boas comprise some See also:forty See also:species; most of them are See also:American, but the genus Eryx inhabits See also:North See also:Africa, See also:Greece and See also:south-western See also:Asia; the genus Enygrus ranges from New See also:Guinea to the See also:Fiji; Casarea dussumieri is restricted to See also:Round See also:Island, near See also:Mauritius; and two species of Boa and one of Corallus represent this subfamily in See also:Madagascar, while all the other boas live in See also:America, chiefly in tropical parts. All Boidae possess vestiges of See also:pelvis and See also:hind limbs, appearing externally as claw-like spurs on each See also:side of the vent, but they are so small that they are practically without See also:function in climbing. The usually See also:short tail is prehensile. One of the commonest species of the genus Boa is the Boa constrictor, which has a wide range from tropical See also:Mexico to See also:Brazil. The See also:head is covered with small scales, only one of the preoculars being enlarged. The See also:general See also:colour is a delicate See also:pale See also:brown, with about a dozen and a See also:half darker See also:cross-bars, which are often connected by a still darker dorso-lateral streak, enclosing large See also:oval spots. On each side is a See also:series of large dark brown spots with See also:light centres. On the tail the markings become bolder, See also:brick red with See also:black and yellow. The under parts are yellowish with black dots. This species rarely reaches a length of more than 10 ft.

It climbs well, prefers open See also:

forest in the neighbourhood of See also:water, is often found in plantations where it retires into a hole in the ground, and lives chiefly on birds and small mammals. Like most true boas, it is of a very See also:gentle disposition and easily domesticates itself in the See also:palm or See also:reed thatched huts of the natives, where it hunts the rats during the See also:night. The See also:term' " boa " is applied by See also:analogy to a See also:long See also:article of See also:women's See also:dress See also:wound round the See also:neck.

End of Article: BOA

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