Tropidophis, common name wood snake or West Indian wood snake, is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of dwarf boas found in the West Indies and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. Currently, 17 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...

 are recognized.

Description

Adults grow to between 30 an 60 cm in length. They are secretive and predominately terrestrial, found in a variety of natural habitats including rain forest, swamps, pine woods and scrub, as well as in the vicinity of human habitation. They have a peculiar defensive habit of expelling blood

Autohaemorrhaging

Autohaemorrhaging or reflex bleeding is the action of animals deliberately ejecting haemolymph or blood from themselves. If the animal has toxic compounds in its blood then it may be an effective chemical defence mechanism....

 from the mouth, nostrils and eyes when disturbed. Some species also change colour over the course of the day.

Despite their relatively small size and secretive nature, there is evidence that some species may be susceptible to extirpation, mainly due habitat alteration and introduced feral animals. The Navassa Island dwarf boa, T. bucculentus

Tropidophis bucculentus

Tropidophis bucculentus was a nonvenomous dwarf boa species endemic to Navassa Island. No subspecies are currently recognized.It is commonly referred to as the Navassa Island dwarf boa.-Geographic range:The type locality given is "Navassa Id."...

has not been seen for 100 years and is believed to be extinct.

Species

Species	Taxon author	Subsp.*	Common name	Geographic range
T. battersbyi Tropidophis battersbyi Tropidophis battersbyi, or the Ecuadorian dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to Ecuador....	Laurent, 1949	0	Ecuadorian dwarf boa	Ecuador Ecuador Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border... .
T. bucculentus Tropidophis bucculentus Tropidophis bucculentus was a nonvenomous dwarf boa species endemic to Navassa Island. No subspecies are currently recognized.It is commonly referred to as the Navassa Island dwarf boa.-Geographic range:The type locality given is "Navassa Id."...	(Cope Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen... , 1868)	0	Navassa Island dwarf boa	Navassa Island Navassa Island Navassa Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, claimed as an unorganized unincorporated territory of the United States, which administers it through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Haiti, which claims to have had sovereignty over Navassa since 1801, also claims the island... .
T. canus	(Cope Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen... , 1868)	3	Bahamian dwarf boa	The Bahamas.
T. caymanensis Tropidophis caymanensis Tropidophis caymanensis, or the Cayman Islands dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to the Cayman Islands....	Battersby, 1938	2	Cayman Islands dwarf boa	Cayman Islands Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
T. feicki Tropidophis feicki Tropidophis feicki, or the Broad-banded dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to Cuba....	Schwartz, 1957	0	Broad-banded dwarf boa	Western Cuba Cuba The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city... .
T. fuscus Tropidophis fuscus Tropidophis fuscus is a non-venomous dwarf boa species found in Cuba. No subspecies are currently recognized.-Geographic range:Found in Cuba where it is known only from two areas, Cruzata and Minas Amores, in northeastern Guantánamo Province. The type locality given is "Minas Amores , Guantánamo...	Hedges & Garrido, 1992	0	Cuban dusky dwarf boa	Northeastern Cuba.
T. greenwayi Tropidophis greenwayi Tropidophis greenwayi is a non-venomous dwarf boa species found in the Caicos Islands. Two subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.-Description:...	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	1	Caicos dwarf boa	Caicos Islands.
T. haetianus Tropidophis haetianus Tropidophis haetianus, or the Haitian dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to the Caribbean Islands....	(Cope Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen... , 1879)	5	Haitian dwarf boa	Eastern Cuba, Hispaniola Hispaniola Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...  and adjacent islands, and Jamaica Jamaica Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic... .
T. maculatus Tropidophis maculatus Tropidophis maculatus, or the Spotted red dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to Cuba....	(Bibron Gabriel Bibron Gabriel Bibron was a French zoologist. He was born in Paris. Son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was hired to collect vertebrates in Italy and Sicily. He classified a number of reptile species with André Marie Constant... , 1840)	0	Spotted red dwarf boa	Western Cuba.
T. melanurusT	(Schlegel Hermann Schlegel Hermann Schlegel was a German ornithologist and herpetologist.-Early life and education:Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimulated Schlegel's interest in natural history... , 1837)	2	Cuban giant dwarf boa	Cuba and adjacent islands.
T. nigriventris Tropidophis nigriventris Tropidophis nigriventis, or the Black-bellied dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to Cuba....	Bailey, 1937	1	Black-bellied dwarf boa	Cuba.
T. pardalis Tropidophis pardalis Tropidophis pardalis, or the Leopard dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to Cuba....	(Gundlach, 1840)	0	Leopard dwarf boa	Cuba and adjacent islands.
T. paucisquamis Tropidophis paucisquamis Tropidophis paucisquanis, or the Brazilian dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to Brazil....	(Müller Fritz Müller (doctor) Fritz Müller was a Swiss doctor, zoologist, and herpetologist.He was born in Basel and studied at the University of Basel from 1852 to 1854, and then at Würzburg and Prague, where he became a medical doctor in 1857... , 1901)	0	Brazilian dwarf boa	Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...  in Espírito Santo Espírito Santo Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vitória and the largest city is Vila Velha. The name of the state means literally "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity... , Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro (state) Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...  and São Paulo São Paulo (state) São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil... .
T. pilsbryi Tropidophis pilsbryi Tropidophis pilsbryi, or the Cuban White-necked dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to Cuba....	Bailey, 1937	1	Cuban White-necked dwarf boa	Central and eastern Cuba.
T. semicinctus Tropidophis semicinctus Tropidophis semicinctus, or the Yellow-banded dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to Cuba....	(Gundlach Juan Gundlach Juan Cristóbal Gundlach , born Johannes Christoph Gundlach was a Cuban naturalist and taxonomist.-Biography:...  & Peters Wilhelm Peters Wilhelm Karl Hartwich Peters was a German naturalist and explorer.He was assistant to Johannes Peter Müller and later curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum. In September 1842 he travelled to Mozambique via Angola. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens... , 1864)	0	Yellow-banded dwarf boa	Western and central Cuba.
T. taczanowskyi Tropidophis taczanowskyi Tropidophis taczanowskyi, or Taczanowski's dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to Peru and Ecuador....	(Steindachner Franz Steindachner Franz Steindachner was an Austrian zoologist.- Work and career :Being interested in natural history, Steindachner took up the study of fossil fishes on the recommendation of his friend Eduard Suess... , 1880)	0	Taczanowski's dwarf boa	Amazonian Peru Peru Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....  and Ecuador Ecuador Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border... .
T. wrighti Tropidophis wrighti Tropidophis wrighti, or the Gracile banded dwarf boa, is a species of snake in the Tropidophiidae family. It is endemic to Cuba....	Stull, 1928	0	Gracile banded	Eastern Cuba.

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.

^T) Type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

.