Posted by:
herpconsultants2
at Wed May 26 20:26:08 2004 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by herpconsultants2 ]
The Amazon forest covers a total area of 7,584,331 square kilometres. If you make a quick search on say Google you will also find the following info:
Brasil 4.982.000
Perú 956.751
Bolivia 824.000
Colombia 406.000
Surinam 142.800
Ecuador 123.000
Guyana Francesa 91.000
Venezuela 53.000
Guyana 5.780
I think the problem here may be the definition of "basin." But to say that Surinam has no Amazonian forest is totally inaccurate. To also say that a boa is from a certain area based soley on a photograph is also inaccurate.
Unfortunately, herpetoculturists sometimes make broad assumptions and certain terms are tossed around far too easily. It happens alot on this forum for example. In this particular example one has to take into account alot more than river drainage patterns. There are always grey areas when one tries to classify certain forest types for example, but rest assured, the "Amazonian Surinam" exists. Not necessarily in that particular photo, but it exists.
I appreciate common names will always be applied in such cases. It helps us classify organisms at the most basic level. Take "Guyanan shield" / "Amazonian" Emeralds for example. BUT...remember, common names are, by definition, common names - those intended to be used by the average guy in the street. They help us understand something more about an animal than may otherwise be understood. Take the rainbows for example: "Colombian" rainbows > E.c.maurus....they lead the "average" guy to believe this subspecies only occurs in Colombia, which is of course innacurate. Political boundaries are understood only by (the majority of) humans, but not other animals / plants. For example, who told the E.c.cenchria in Leticia that "he" is a Brazilian rainbow boa, and shouldn't be in Colombia?
Anyway, I digress, and it's late. However, my point is that caution should always be exercised when applying common names to animals. And also, one only knows the origin of a particular animal / plant when the EXACT collection locality is known. For 99% of the time, this usually means you have collected the animal / plant yourself!
...oh, and that Surinam does have some "Amazonian" forest!
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