Green anaconda

For the asserted distinct species first identified in 2024, see Northern green anaconda.

Green anaconda
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-recent[1]
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[3]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Genus: Eunectes
Species:
E. murinus
Binomial name
Eunectes murinus
Distribution of Eunectes murinus
Synonyms [4]
  • [Boa] murina Linnaeus, 1758
  • [Boa] Scytale Linnaeus, 1758
  • Boa gigas Latreille, 1802
  • Boa anacondo Daudin, 1803
  • Boa aquatica Wied-Neuwied, 1824
  • Eunectes murinus – Wagler, 1830
  • Eunectes murina – Gray, 1831
  • Eunectes murinus – Boulenger, 1893
  • Eunectes scytale – Stull, 1935
  • [Eunectes murinus] murinus
    – Dunn & Conant, 1936
  • Eunectes barbouri
    Dunn & Conant, 1936
  • Eunectes murinus murinus
    – Dunn, 1944
  • Eunectes akayima Rivas et al., 2024

The green anaconda (Eunectes murinus), also known as the giant anaconda, emerald anaconda, common anaconda, common water boa, or southern green anaconda, is a semi-aquatic boa species found in South America and the Caribbean island of Trinidad. It is the largest, heaviest, and second longest snake in the world, after the reticulated python. No subspecies are currently recognized. Like all boas, it is a non-venomous constrictor. The term "anaconda" often refers to this species, though the term could also apply to other members of the genus Eunectes. Fossils of the snake date back to the Late Pleistocene in the Gruta do Urso locality.[1]

  1. ^ a b Hsiou, Annie; Winck, Gisele; Schubert, Blaine; dos Santos Avilla, Leonardo (1 June 2013). "On the Presence of Eunectos Murinus (Squamata, Serpentes) from the Late Pleistocene of Northern Brazil". Revista Brasileira de paleontologia. 16 (1).
  2. ^ Calderón, M.; Ortega, A.; Scott, N.; Cacciali, P.; Nogueira, C. de C.; Gagliardi, G.; Catenazzi, A.; Cisneros-Heredia, D. F.; Hoogmoed, M.S.; Schargel, W.; Rivas, G.; Murphy, J. (22 November 2014), "Eunectes murinus", IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2021-2.rlts.t44580041a44580052.en Accessed 2022-04-08.
  3. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  4. ^ McDiarmid, R. W.; Campbell, J. A.; Toure, T. (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Vol. 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. ISBN 1893777014.