Charina bottae
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The rubber boa (Charina bottae) is a species of snake in the family Boidae and is native to western North America. It is sometimes known as the coastal rubber boa or the northern rubber boa and is not to be confused with the southern rubber boa (Charina umbratica).
Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville described the rubber boa in 1835. The generic name Charina is from the Ancient Greek "graceful" or "delightful", and the specific name bottae honors Dr. Paolo E. Botta, an Italian ship's surgeon, explorer, and naturalist.
The family Boidae consists of the nonvenomous snakes commonly called boas and consists of 43 species. The genus Charina consists of two species, both of which are found in North America. There is debate on whether the southern rubber boa, a population found in the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles in California, should be a separate species or a subspecies (as Charina bottae umbratica). A study published in 2001 concluded there is enough evidence to indicate that the proposed independent species, Charina umbratica, is a separate species based on its geologically separate genetic nature and morphological differences. Wikipedia →
Recording0:11
United States · 2022
© jamiecatchfly · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Living Desert Zoo and Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Santa Barbara Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Reptile Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States |
No species of the same family or order lives in San Francisco, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Rubber Boa sighting in San Francisco on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 16th most-seen of the 21 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Rubber Boa in San Francisco on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Rubber Boa sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only San Francisco, in our data
San Francisco is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Northern Rubber Boa sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Rubber Boa is recorded against all the reptiles logged in San Francisco (11 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
