Common names: Caicos Islands dwarf boa.

Tropidophis greenwayi is a non-venomous dwarf boa species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 found in the Caicos Islands. Two subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.

Description

Adults reach maturity at lengths of 225 mm in males and 250-265 mm in females. The maximum size is 38 cm.

Geographic range

Found in the West Indies in the Caicos Islands, particularly on the islands of Ambergris Cay, Long Caye, Middle Caicos

Middle Caicos

Middle Caicos, also Grand Caicos, is the largest island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. To the west, it is separated from North Caicos by Juniper Hole, and to the east, from East Caicos by Lorimer Creek, both narrow passages that can accommodate only small boats.Middle Caicos has an area of 144.2...

, Middleton Cay, North Caicos

North Caicos

North Caicos is the second-largest island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. To the west, the Caicos Cays link to Providenciales. To the east, it is separated from Middle Caicos by Juniper Hole, a narrow passage that can accommodate only small boats.North Caicos has an area of 116.4 km² within the...

, South Caicos

South Caicos

South Caicos is the seventh largest island in the Turks and Caicos islands archipelago, with a land area of . The population was estimated at 1579 in 2006. Together with uninhabited East Caicos and a number of smaller islands, it forms the South Caicos and East Caicos District, with a total area of...

, and probably also on Providenciales

Providenciales

Providenciales is an island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The island has an area of and an approximate population of 15,542, making it the largest island in population and the third largest in area. It is served by the Providenciales International Airport...

. The type locality given is "Ambergris Cay, Caicos Islands, Bahamas."

Conservation

Because of its restricted island distribution, it is susceptible to extirpation

Local extinction

Local extinction, also known as extirpation, is the condition of a species which ceases to exist in the chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere...

. Unless wildlife protection laws are enforced, the relatively secretive nature of this snake may be its only protection against extinction.

Subspecies

Subspecies	Taxon author	Common name	Geographic range
T. g. greenwayi	(Barbour Thomas Barbour Thomas Barbour was an American herpetologist. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology founded in 1859 by Louis Agassiz at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts....  & Shreve, 1936)		Type locality: Ambergris Cay.
T. g. lanthanus	Schwartz, 1963		Type locality: South Caicos South Caicos South Caicos is the seventh largest island in the Turks and Caicos islands archipelago, with a land area of . The population was estimated at 1579 in 2006. Together with uninhabited East Caicos and a number of smaller islands, it forms the South Caicos and East Caicos District, with a total area of... .