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Snakes

Rosy boa

Tingle says Mosauer 1935's five lateral-undulation species reached 0.249 mph to 3.5 mph (0.4 to 5.7 km/h), and the slowest was a rosy boa. Only 0.249 mph (0.4 km/h) is named.

A rosy boa can travel 0.249 mph (0.4 km/h), a verified measurement.

Also known as Lichanura trivirgata
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Top speed

Published as 0.4 km/hPublished as 0.4 km/hPublished as 0.4 km/h

Tingle 2020: five sympatric lateral-undulation species in Mosauer 1935 reached 0.4, 1.2, 1.9, 2.3, and 3.5 mph (5.7 km/h). The slowest was a rosy boa, Lichanura trivirgata. The figure is 0.249 mph (0.4 km/h). The other four species are unnamed colubrids and are not rows. A garter-snake range is not this cell.

VerifiedIntegrative and Comparative Biology (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 8% of walking paceConstant · A typical walking pace, 5 km/h
  • 1.1% of Usain Bolt's 100 m world-record paceSourced · Usain Bolt, 100 m in 9.58 s. World Athletics, Berlin 2009. Averaged over the race
  • A football field in 14 minConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

Quick answers

People also ask

How fast can a rosy boa travel?

A rosy boa can travel 0.249 mph (0.4 km/h), a verified measurement.

Is that figure claimed or verified?

Rosy boa is labeled Verified. Independently measured and published, for example in a peer-reviewed study or with certified timing.

What is the source?

The figure cites Integrative and Comparative Biology, “Facultatively sidewinding snakes, rosy boa speed.”

Where does Rosy boa rank?

Rosy boa is 7th of 7 on Fastest Snakes.

Mechanism

Why it's so fast

Tingle says Mosauer 1935's five lateral-undulation species reached 0.249 mph to 3.5 mph (0.4 to 5.7 km/h), and the slowest was a rosy boa, Lichanura trivirgata. Only about 0.2 mph (0.4 km/h) is named for it.

Species
Lichanura trivirgata
Speed
0.249 mph (0.4 km/h)
Gait
Lateral undulation

  1. The slow end of five species

    Mosauer timed lateral undulation, the ordinary snake slither, in five species. The band was 0.249 mph to 3.5 mph (0.4 to 5.7 km/h). The rosy boa is identified as the 0.249 mph (0.4 km/h) end. The other four species in that band are not given their own rows here.

  2. Undulation, not sidewinding

    The sidewinder's 2.3 mph (3.7 km/h) is a different gait on a rubber mat. The rosy boa's 0.249 mph (0.4 km/h) is lateral undulation from 1935. The page does not treat every snake as the same motion.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 0.4km/h0.249mph0.111m/s0.216knRanked figure

    Tingle 2020: five sympatric lateral-undulation species in Mosauer 1935 reached 0.4, 1.2, 1.9, 2.3, and 3.5 mph (5.7 km/h). The slowest was a rosy boa, Lichanura trivirgata. The figure is 0.249 mph (0.4 km/h). The other four species are unnamed colubrids and are not rows. A garter-snake range is not this cell.

    Only 0.249 mph (0.4 km/h) is tied to a named species. The 1.2, 1.9, 2.3, and 3.5 mph (5.7 km/h) figures stay off the list.

    Verified
    Integrative and Comparative Biology (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Species
Lichanura trivirgata
Speed
0.249 mph (0.4 km/h)
Trial
Mosauer 1935, via Tingle 2020

Context

Background

Tingle writes that Mosauer 1935 tested five sympatric species that use lateral undulation, and they reached 0.4, 1.2, 1.9, 2.3, and 3.5 mph (5.7 km/h). The slowest was a rosy boa, Lichanura trivirgata. The figure is 0.249 mph (0.4 km/h), qualifier verified, because the review names that species as the slowest of a measured set.

The other four speeds belong to unnamed colubrids, so they are not rows. Garter snakes in the same paragraph are a range, 0.808 mph (1.3 km/h) in newborns to more than 2.2 mph (3.6 km/h) in some adults, and a range is not a rank. The rosy boa number is travel speed, not a strike.

Head to head

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