Posted by:
Barry Miller
at Tue Oct 4 23:18:40 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Barry Miller ]
There is a problem with the taxonomy of BCA, and I will try to address it here as best I can. Please forgive the length of this post. First of all, here is a pic of a nice redtail born here in 2002.
A nice BCC, right? Wrong! Boa constrictor amarali (Lemke 96 X Belknap 97). I knew this issue would come up, so I took pictures of a shed from this animal early on. I am willing to take more, and to put this animal up for inspection. The rows are on the high side, but within amarali range (remember, the belly and “fringe” ones you don’t count). The tail is amarali. (These are the only counts pertinent to distinguishing BCA from BCC.)
That said, it is my understanding that some of the animals, particularly from Lloyds 94 litter, have row counts that are too high for amarali. I will not dispute this, though I haven’t personally counted one that is; but the size of the scales shows me that it is likely. So why did Lloyd call them BCA? The tails (not the red blotches on top, but the scales from the vent to the tip), and the location.
In the Systematics (classification) class I took in college, I was blessed to have a fairly renowned professor (Ashlock), who felt that subspecies classifications served a good purpose. (Personally, I feel locality tells us much more than subspecies, but that is another argument.) I asked him: “What about ranges, such as the Boa constrictor which ranges from Mexico to Argentina.” He answered: “We’ll get to that.” Of course we never did, though I brought it up repeatedly. What I am talking about of course is integradation (is that a word?).
The problem: Stull based the classification of amarali on only a handful of boas (ten?). Not enough to be statistically significant. Apparently they were all from high altitude areas too, as they were described as being different from BCC in that they were grey (as Herman has already pointed out, we are very confident that there are indeed tan BCA in Bolivia that have red tails). Please stay with me here. As I pointed out in a previous post, boas in cooler climates tend to be smaller in length (though perhaps bigger in girth), darker (grey/silver rather than tan), and they have lower scale counts. Check out the size and scale counts of the Mexican boa, versus a BCC. I maintain that Sao Paolo is at a very high altitude, and that as one moves down toward the (warmer) basin, one will find animals that are lighter, more colorful, longer, and will have higher dorsal scale counts.
Where does one draw the line? You cannot call the Lemke animals BCC, the tail is too short. Also, if you actually own these animals you know that they are nothing like the BCC, but very much like Bolivians (except they like it warmer). Stull’s classification is inadequate, it is not based on a statistically significant sampling. I maintain, as did Lloyd, that these are very much amarali. If you want to draw a line elsewhere in the sand with your toe (which is basically what we are doing in assigning subspecies), that is your choice. It is great fodder for conversation, but certainly not worthy of the kind of anger and hostility I have seen a very few people send out.
To conclude, these animals are not misrepresented. They are from south Brazil, not Bolivia. They are better called amarali, since most meet Stull’s flawed classification, and those that don’t do not qualify as BCC. I do not feel they should be bred to Bolivians, they are way different, and let’s please try to maintain the locality appearance, etc. I apologize to all those I have offended with my vehement defense of these animals. I felt that the late Lloyd Lemke was being slandered, and I felt that a man of his caliber deserved to be treated better. Also, when Tim Belknap sold me the last of his south Brazilians, he dubbed me "keeper of the Lemke line", a responsibilty I take way too seriously, LOL. I would urge each and every one of us (especially me) to relax, take a deep breath, and enjoy these magnificent animals for what they are: God’s awesome creation. Trust me, they are by far and away the best locality boa I have owned, and I will keep and breed them until the day I die. Thanks for your patience, and I will conclude with a picture of Lloyd’s wild caught male as a reward to those that made it this far (see, I didn't breed the saddles out of them, it was God, LOL). I will save this post for the next time this argument comes up (it will), and Kemper, I look forward to kicking your ass, I know you did this just to annoy me  :
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 The problem with classifying south Brazilian amarali (and boas in general). (Long, but cool pics) - Barry Miller, Tue Oct 4 23:18:40 2005
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