I haven’t found any of these boas yet inperson (although I hope to…), but I’ve been incredibly confused by the taxonomy and was hoping someone could maybe clarify this. Apparently there are two recognized species of rosy boa on iNaturalist, common names coastal and desert rosy boa. Here ( http://www…

I have one of very few sightings of rosy boa in Orange County, California, and identifiers unanimously called it Lichanura orcutti . I don’t know anything about snakes though.

I’m not an expert (finally saw my first one last month while herping with people familiar with them, woo hoo!) but I think it depends on who you ask. Because taxonomy often changes and because iNat doesn’t want to be a place for people to argue about taxonomy , we try to follow external taxonomic aut…

And if you want to go to the source of the names currently in use, there is this paper by Wood et al. (2008): Wood, Dustin A.; Robert N. Fisher and Tod W. Reeder 2008. Novel patterns of historical isolation, dispersal, and secondary contact across Baja California in the Rosy Boa (Lichanura trivirga…

I don’t have at hand my Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians by Stebbins and McGinnis (2018) – it’s in my office which I can’t access due to COVID – but maybe that book splits them out and illustrates the range and distinguishing characteristics. But that book has some issues (whi…

For those without access, here are the relevant figures from that article. They group the northern lineages A & B into L. orcutti and they call the southern lineage C L. trivirgata. In their specimens, there was very little geographic overlap between the three lineages. If I’m reading the paper cor…

That map is really interesting. Seems based on this all of the California trivirgata IDs should be re-IDed as orcutti unless they are in that one tiny section of San Diego county by Dulzura/Otay mountain. Thanks to all for the help!

More or less, yes. All Lichanura in California are currently considered L. orcutti unless they are in the Otay or Tijuana riversheds of extreme southern San Diego county (and in some of these areas, the two species live in sympatry). The authors do propose some characters to separate the two lineage…

Indeed. There are strong opinions among some ophidiophiles about current snake taxonomy. I’m skeptical myself about some current taxonomy but not enough to refuse to acknowledge what is in use either on iNat or elsewhere. I suspect some species splits will eventually be reversed but in the mean time…

I think that’s the way it’s supposed to go. Personal opinions about snake taxonomy aside, iNaturalist follows specific taxonomic standards for reptiles and amphibians in North America (the SSAR North American checklist) and so identifications on the site should reflect the SSAR taxonomy to the best …

Rosy boas in California - orcutti vs trivirgata - #14 by system - Nature Talk

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ID Based on Range or Appearance

General

question

23

2719

April 24, 2019

Southern California botanists -- a few questions

Nature Talk

taxonomy

19

481

July 30, 2024

Help out with properly identifying Amia ocellicauda on iNat

Nature Talk

6

668

February 3, 2023

Taxon/Observation Clarification request

General

taxonomy

2

453

April 2, 2019

Identification for non-sister cryptic species

General

7

734

February 4, 2020

Rosy boas in California - orcutti vs trivirgata

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