Emerald tree boa
Amazing fact
Emerald tree boas find prey at night with heat-sensing pits along their lips.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Emerald tree boas find prey at night with heat-sensing pits along their lips.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Emerald tree boa
- Scientific name
- Corallus caninus
- Japanese name
- エメラルドツリーボア
- Group
- Amphibians and reptiles
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Boidae
- Genus
- Corallus
Where the name “Emerald tree boa” comes from
The word "emerald" in its English name comes from the green color of its back.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebA snake that lives up in the trees of South American rainforests, such as the Amazon.
Adults are bright green and blend into their surroundings. Young ones are brown to red.
By day it rests without moving, looped over a horizontal branch; at night it hangs down from the branch to ambush prey.
How the Emerald tree boa lives
They also use their tongues and other organs to detect chemical scent cues around them. They quickly extend their necks to catch prey passing nearby. They sometimes come down to the ground to bask in the sun. They usually live without forming groups.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web上野動物園Basic data
- Size
- Total length: 1.5–2 mLength: up to 2.2 m上野動物園University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Lifespan
- up to 15 years in captivityUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)上野動物園
- Diet
- Birds and mice上野動物園
- Range
- Northeastern South America上野動物園
Where the Emerald tree boa has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- エメラルドツリーボア
- 简体中文
- 翡翠树蚺
- 繁體中文
- 翡翠樹蚺
- 한국어
- 에메랄드나무보아
- Español
- Boa esmeralda
- Français
- Boa émeraude
- Deutsch
- Grüner Hundskopfschlinger
- Português (Brasil)
- Cobra-papagaio
- Italiano
- Boa arboricolo smeraldino
- العربية
- بواء الشجر الزمردية
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Boa pohon hijau
- Русский
- Собакоголовый удав
- Türkçe
- Emerald Ağaç Boası
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 上野動物園 — エメラルドツリーボアChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Corallus caninusChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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