Tail Length Differences

ID: Tail Length Differences

Remarks:
These are 15 year old sibling east African sandboas, Eryx colubrinus loveridgei. The female is the larger animal, a trait typical of all species in the genus Eryx. Even though they are exactly the same age, and have both lived in similar cages and been offered similar amounts of food, the female is 31" in length, while the male is 17' in length. Note that, even though the male is considerably smaller, his tail is the same length, and considering his sister's greater size, it is relatively longer. Along with average adult size, relative tail length is also is a sexually dimorphic trait in this species, and in many other species of snakes. In the case of this species, the trait is notable throughout their life; newborn East African sandboa males have an observably longer tail that their sisters. In many snake species around the world (but not all), males have a relatively longer tail than their females.