I would say that the photo is most definitely whitakeri as can be seen by the smooth dorsal scales. E. whitakeri was given species status in 1991 based on morphological distinction from all other erycine species. It shows absolutely no other morphological similarities to E. johnii other than the semi-blunt tail, and this is still fairly distinct from johnii, which shows an extremely rounded tail. E. whitakeri is in fact obviously quite similar to conicus however does have a different ventral count range and smooth scales on the dorsal surface and head, and distinct color pattern. Additionally, the geographic ranges of both conicus and johnii are mostly sympatric wherever they occur over the entire Indian sub-continent, but whitakeri has only been found along the extreme southwest coast. If hybridization were occurring, boas with morphology similar to whitakeri would be showing up in other parts of India, not just in one area representing less than 10% of their shared geographic ranges.



Kelly

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