Northern Rubber Boa

About the Northern Rubber Boa

The rubber boa (Charina bottae) is a species of snake in the family Boidae and is native to western North America. It is sometimes known as the coastal rubber boa or the northern rubber boa and is not to be confused with the southern rubber boa (Charina umbratica).

Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville described the rubber boa in 1835. The generic name Charina is from the Ancient Greek "graceful" or "delightful", and the specific name bottae honors Dr. Paolo E. Botta, an Italian ship's surgeon, explorer, and naturalist.

The family Boidae consists of the nonvenomous snakes commonly called boas and consists of 43 species. The genus Charina consists of two species, both of which are found in North America. There is debate on whether the southern rubber boa, a population found in the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles in California, should be a separate species or a subspecies (as Charina bottae umbratica). A study published in 2001 concluded there is enough evidence to indicate that the proposed independent species, Charina umbratica, is a separate species based on its geologically separate genetic nature and morphological differences. Wikipedia →