World's Rarest Boa Rediscovered After 64 Years
The Cropan's boa, native to Brazil's Atlantic Forest, hadn't been seen alive since its discovery in 1953.
The rarest boa on Earth has been discovered in the rapidly shrinking Atlantic Forest outside São Paulo.
Farmers discovered the 5.5-foot-long female in Ribeira Valley on January 21—the first live specimen of this species collected since 1953, according to photographer Jonne Roriz.
A public campaign to recruit locals to help find the reptile—a mystery to science for decades—had paid off. (Read about a new species of snake discovered in Australia.)
When farmers in the area known as Ribeira, see a snake, they generally kill it, as it may be deadly.
This strategy meant scientists at the University of São Paulo Museum of Zoology and the Institute Butantan only had dead specimens to study—about five over the past 64 years. (Take
