[3] All members of this genus are long, slightly flattened laterally and have thin bodies with large heads.

They typically have relatively large eyes, although this is less pronounced in the larger species, such as the emerald tree boa, Corallus caninus.

All members of the genus are nocturnal and have large numbers of very pronounced thermoreceptive pits are located between the labial scales.

In Central America they occur in Honduras, eastern Guatemala through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

The range of the genus in South America includes Pacific Colombia and Ecuador, as well as the Amazon Basin from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and northern Bolivia through Brazil to Venezuela, Isla Margarita, Trinidad, Tobago, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.