Eryx jaculus in Sicily!

Re: Eryx jaculus in Sicily!

Postby Berislav Horvatic » Mon Jan 11, 2016 10:14 pm

Yes, you could say that. They would stay hidden in the sand with just part of their head out and "dart" and strike their prey and very quickly "throw" and wrap themselves around it...

In all the literature I've consulted it's been said that the "SAND boa" actually doesn't live in sand... They usually hide under something, anything available, but not in sand... so the books say, at least.
Regarding "darting", I had the opportunity to watch a Telescopus fallax throwing itself on a Podarcis siculus I had offered it (as a farewell midnight supper, before releasing it tomorrow morning), and that was some jump indeed. In a split second the lizard was totally blocked and bitten by the neck. What I mean, is the "javelin boa" that much exceptional, as to deserve the name?

But anyway it's just a name :roll: and even if they didn't do that it wouldn't be the first time a species was named "incorrectly". Anyway, you might wanna open another thread for this one as well...

Some names are inappropriate, we all know that, but some are really apt. That's why I asked. Maybe E. jaculus
is better at jumping than some others, better than my blitzschnell fallax (which I doubt), but maybe better at that than other boas, who knows... Does anybody?
Personally, I doubt it. A small and rather fat boa being faster and more agile than a slim fallax...? No way. But being faster than much bigger and heavier boas? That would sound plausible. (But who could have compared the
actual performances of different species of boas, to reach a conclusion like that? Just forgetaboutit, I would
say. Which brings me back to Ilian's thesis... that it's just a name.)

And, no, don't be afraid, I won't open a new thread. I've asked such a simple question...
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Re: Eryx jaculus in Sicily!

Postby Ilian Velikov » Tue Jan 12, 2016 1:36 am

Berislav Horvatic wrote:In all the literature I've consulted it's been said that the "SAND boa" actually doesn't live in sand... They usually hide under something, anything available, but not in sand...


I'm not sure if that's true. Yes, people find them hidden under things but I've seen plenty of photos of Eryx in sandy/loose soil habitat, so who knows what they do when we don't "watch" them (particularly at night)? Besides, I've seen videos of the behavior I described in captivity and I seriously doubt the snake learned that in its time in the terrarium.

Berislav Horvatic wrote:That would sound plausible. (But who could have compared the
actual performances of different species of boas, to reach a conclusion like that? Just forgetaboutit, I would
say. Which brings me back to Ilian's thesis... that it's just a name.

Exactly, the name is subject to the guy who first gave it that name. If it was me it might as well have been "shovel-nosed sausage boa" :D
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Re: Eryx jaculus in Sicily!

Postby Edvard Mizsei » Tue Jan 12, 2016 8:21 am

Berislav Horvatic wrote:In all the literature I've consulted it's been said that the "SAND boa" actually doesn't live in sand... They usually hide under something, anything available, but not in sand...


Image

I'm not a sand boa expert, but we have found that one in sand near Palmyra (Syria).
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Re: Eryx jaculus in Sicily!

Postby Berislav Horvatic » Tue Jan 12, 2016 1:28 pm

Ilian Velikov wrote:Exactly, the name is subject to the guy who first gave it that name.
If it was me it might as well have been "shovel-nosed sausage boa" :D

I'd certainly vote for that, instead of "jaculus" or "javeline". Just translate that into Latin or Greek
or a combination of both, and I'd bet everyone would subscribe. Because that's what it looks like.
Nevertheless, one of my favourites.
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Re: Eryx jaculus in Sicily!

Postby Berislav Horvatic » Tue Jan 12, 2016 1:33 pm

Edvard Mizsei wrote:
Berislav Horvatic wrote:In all the literature I've consulted it's been said that the "SAND boa" actually doesn't live in sand... They usually hide under something, anything available, but not in sand...

I'm not a sand boa expert, but we have found that one in sand near Palmyra (Syria).

Thanks, Edvard. First of all, a nice find and a nice photo. Which proves that they might live in sand as well
after all - sometimes, someplace.
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Re: Eryx jaculus in Sicily!

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Tue Jan 12, 2016 3:43 pm

Although it certainly occurs in sand, Eryx jaculus is rather a species of loam soils, less frequently of sandy soils. Other Eryx species surely are more sand-loving.
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Re: Eryx jaculus in Sicily!

Postby Ilian Velikov » Tue Jan 12, 2016 4:07 pm

Jeroen Speybroeck wrote:Although it certainly occurs in sand, Eryx jaculus is rather a species of loam soils, less frequently of sandy soils.


Loam! :shock: Given it's burrowing habits I'd imagine it would be rather difficult to dig into that...I'm not arguing I just always thought it prefers loose soil. At least in Bulgaria it's range almost matches that of Xerotyphlops which is supposed to like loose soil, although as I recall I found a few Xerotyphlops in soil which was extremely sticky (after rain that is) and loam-like but still somehow rather more loose than loam.
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Re: Eryx jaculus in Sicily!

Postby Ilian Velikov » Tue Jan 12, 2016 4:11 pm

OK, I had to check this because translated in Bulgarian "loam" means very dense sticky soil (the sort you'd use to bake pottery), and it certainly could be like that. However, as it turns out there are more than one types of "loam".

Loam is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > 63 µm), silt (particle size > 2 µm), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < 2 µm). Its composition is about 40%-40%-20% concentration of sand-silt-clay, respectively.These proportions can vary to a degree, however, and result in different types of loam soils: sandy loam, silty loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, and loam.
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Re: Eryx jaculus in Sicily!

Postby Berislav Horvatic » Tue Jan 12, 2016 5:13 pm

Loam vs. clay, "loam as such"... Way too "off-topic"...?! Never mind, just asking...
(Sorry, no smiley to interpret what I mean...)
As for me, I learned something about loam, and didn't have to do it myself, which
is always most welcome. Off-topic or not.

BTW,
"The genus name derives from the Latin Eryx (genitive Erycis), the name of a mountain
in the NW corner of Sicily, with a famous temple to Venus at its top; also an eponymous
hero, son of Venus, defeated by Heracles in a boxing-match. According to GOTCH (1986:
128) «There is probably no special reason for this generic name» as a number of names
from classical mythology has been used «without thought of any physical significance».
The gender of the genus is masculine [from LANZA & NISTRI 2005]."
http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/sp ... xact%29%29
Regarding the name of the species, "jaculus", I've finally found in literature that E. jaculus
escapes a predator (or molester) with an impressive jerk of its front part of the body, so
maybe that could have been the reason for naming it.
Although, on the other hand, I strongly doubt that the Swede Carolus Linnæus, who named
the species, had ever seen this animal in vivo. Maybe he had reliable informants?
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Re: Eryx jaculus in Sicily!

Postby Guillaume Gomard » Tue Jan 12, 2016 11:02 pm

Berislav Horvatic wrote:Anyhow, what's the origin of the name Eryx jaculus, rendered as "javelin boa" in English?
"Jaculus" in Latin means "thrown, darting", and "jaculum" is a technical term for the spear
that is hurled, not thrusted:
https://books.google.hr/books?id=EokSAA ... um&f=false
So, the English "javelin boa" would be an apt translation, but to what do both "jaculus" and
"javeline" refer regarding the actual behaviour of the animal in question? Do they THROW
themselves on their prey? This particular boa? Any boa?


Bero, following a discussion I had on the topic with R.Ksas, maybe I can add few comments here: Indeed, Linné named that snake Anguis jaculus. An explanation for "jaculus" could be that the tendency of those snakes to throw themselves when launching an attack is more pronounced than for other species among Anguis, which makes sense but we cannot be completely sure about that. Plus, it seems that Linné took the name "jaculus" from Pliny the Elder who claimed that this snake was throwing itself in one shot when it attacked [ref?]. In my understanding, the name "jaculus" has some real background but was probably exaggerated, as you can experience yourself in the field.

P.S: I mentioned R.Ksas here as he just released a very interesting book about the etymology of snakes latin names (more info at: http://shop.venomworld.fr/?product=book). Unfortunately, only a French version is available at the moment.
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