SPECIES INFO
This species may be Tropidophis caymenensis.Wood snake genus (Tropidophis) contains about 16 different species. The genus is found primarily on the Caribbean Islands but a few species are also found on the mainland of South and Central America. However, the naming of the forms on the different Caribbean Islands is certainly open to discussion. These small snakes typically have large eyes to enable them to hunt their prey at night. This genus plus the Exiliboa, Trachyboa, and Ungaliophis genus can be placed in a separate family of wood snakes (Tropidopheidae).
The wood snake family (Tropidopheidae) is found in the New World tropics north into the Bahamas. There are about 4 different genera with a total of about 20 plus species. Most are small to medium nocturnal snakes. This group of snakes was previously considered part of the Boa family. The genera are:
Exiliboa with 1 species
Trachyboa with 2 species
Tropidophis with about 16 or so species
Ungaliophis with 2 species.
Lizards and Snakes (Squamata Order) share many common characteristics and consequently they are grouped in a single order. There are greater differences between some groups of lizards than there are between other groups of lizards and snakes. The same is true of snakes. Lizards and snakes share a common skull shape.
There are perhaps 4,000 species of lizards and perhaps 2,700 species of snakes alive today. In the Great Big Book of Snakes and Reptiles published in 2014, they noted the above estimates.
Reptiles (Class Reptilia) are an ancient group of scaled chordates. These scales may be permanently joined, as in the turtles, or flexible, as in the snakes. Reptiles are land-based. Their eggs are laid on land and the young are air breathing.
In the Great Big Book of Snakes and Reptiles published in 2014, they noted that there are more than 7,000 species of reptiles alive today.
Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.
Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.
Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.