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Grass Snake (Natrix Natrix Helvetica) Playing Dead (14178349634)
The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian semi-aquatic non-venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecies are recognized, including: ''Natrix natrix helvetica'' ( Lacépède, 1789) was formerly treated as a subspecies, but following genetic analysis it was recognised in August 2017 as a separate species, ''Natrix helvetica'', the barred grass snake. Four other subspecies were transferred from ''N. natrix'' to ''N. helvetica'', becoming ''N. helvetica cettii'', ''N. helvetica corsa'', ''N. helvetica lanzai'' and ''N. helvetica sicula''. The subspecies ''N. natrix astreptophora'', with distribution in the Iberian peninsula, the Pyrenees, and North-Western Africa, has been reclassified as its own species '' Natrix astreptophora'' or the Iberian grass snake. Description The grass snake is typically dark green or bro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barred Grass Snake
The barred grass snake (''Natrix helvetica'') is a non-venomous colubrid snake from Western Europe, living in and close to water. It was included within the grass snake species, ''Natrix natrix'', until August 2017, when genetic analysis led to its reclassification as a separate species. Subspecies There are currently five subspecies of ''Natrix helvetica'' recognized (having been formerly classified as subspecies of '' N. natrix''): *''N. helvetica helvetica'' (syn. ''N. natrix helvetica'') – most of range *''N. helvetica cetti'' (syn. ''N. natrix cetti'') – Sardinia *''N. helvetica corsa'' (syn. ''N. natrix corsa'') – Corsica *''N. helvetica lanzai'' (syn. ''N. natrix lanzai'') – mainland Italy, but not south *''N. helvetica sicula'' (syn. ''N. natrix sicula'') – Calabria and Sicily Description The barred grass snake has a dark grey-green upper body with characteristic black barring along the flanks. The underparts are pale. It has a distinctive yellow and bla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natrix Astreptophora
''Natrix astreptophora'', the red-eyed grass snake or the Iberian grass snake, is a species of natricine snake found in the Iberian Peninsula, south of France, and some coastal areas in Maghreb, from Tangier to Tunisia. www.reptile-database.org. Long considered a subspecies of the European grass snake, ''Natrix natrix'', the subspecies was split off from that taxon in 2016. Taxonomy The red-eyed grass snake was formally described by the Spanish herpetologist Victor Lopez Seoane in 1903 as ''Natrix astreptophora'' based on specimens from Galicia, Spain (later restricted to A Coruña). The species was subsequently treated as a subspecies in the grass snake complex (''Natrix natrix sensu lato''). The North African populations of the red-eyed grass snake were described as a separate subspecies of the grass snake, ''Tropidonotus natrix algericus'', by the German herpetologist Günther Hecht in 1930. The taxonomy of the grass snake complex remained unsettled throughout the 20th cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermoregulation
Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature as its own body temperature, thus avoiding the need for internal thermoregulation. The internal thermoregulation process is one aspect of homeostasis: a state of dynamic stability in an organism's internal conditions, maintained far from thermal equilibrium with its environment (the study of such processes in zoology has been called physiological ecology). If the body is unable to maintain a normal human body temperature, normal temperature and it increases significantly above normal, a condition known as hyperthermia occurs. Humans may also experience lethal hyperthermia when the wet bulb temperature is sustained above for six hours. Work in 2022 established by experiment that a wet-bulb temperature exceeding 30.55°C caused uncompensab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Perch
The European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man's rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the perch, is a predatory freshwater fish native to Europe and North Asia. It is the type species of the genus '' Perca''. The perch is a popular game fish for recreational anglers, and has been widely introduced beyond its native Eurasian habitats into Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Known locally simply as "redfin", they have caused substantial damage to native fish populations in Australia and have been proclaimed a noxious species in New South Wales. Taxonomy The first scientific description of the river perch was made by Peter Artedi in 1730. He defined the basic morphological signs of this species after studying perch from Swedish lakes. Artedi described its features, counting the fin rays scales and vertebrae of the typ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyla Orientalis
''Hyla orientalis'', also known as the eastern tree frog, oriental tree frog or Shelkovnikov's tree frog, is a species from the genus ''Hyla''. The species was originally described by Jacques von Bedriaga Jacques Vladimir von Bedriaga, sometimes Bedryagha (Russian language, Russian: Яков Владимирович Бедряга; 1854 - 1906) was a Russian herpetologist who was a native of Kriniz, a village near Voronezh. In scientific papers Be ... in 1890, and is found in eastern and southeastern Europe as well as Asia Minor and parts of west Asia. References orientalis Taxa named by Jacques von Bedriaga Amphibians described in 1890 Amphibians of Turkey Amphibians of Russia Amphibians of Iran Amphibians of Armenia Amphibians of Azerbaijan {{Hylinae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constriction
Constriction is a method used by several snake species to kill or subdue their prey. Although some species of venomous and mildly venomous snakes do use constriction to subdue their prey, most snakes which use constriction lack venom. The snake strikes at its prey and holds on, pulling the prey into its coils or, in the case of very large prey, pulling itself onto the prey. The snake then wraps one or two loops around the prey, forming a constriction coil. The snake monitors the prey's heartbeat to ascertain it is dead. This can be a physically demanding and potentially dangerous procedure for the snake, because its metabolism is accelerated up to sevenfold and it becomes vulnerable to attack by another predator. Contrary to myth, the snake does not generally crush the prey, or break its bones. However, wild anacondas have been observed to cause broken bones in large prey. Also contrary to prior belief, the snake does not suffocate the victim. Instead, a study of boa cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vomeronasal Organ
The vomeronasal organ (VNO), or Jacobson's organ, is the paired auxiliary olfactory (smell) sense organ located in the soft tissue of the nasal septum, in the nasal cavity just above the roof of the mouth (the hard palate) in various tetrapods. The name is derived from the fact that it lies adjacent to the unpaired vomer bone (from Latin , for its shape) in the nasal septum. It is present and functional in all snakes and lizards, and in many mammals, including cats, dogs, cattle, pigs, and some primates. Humans may have physical remnants of a VNO, but it is vestigial and non-functional. The VNO contains the cell bodies of sensory neurons which have receptors that detect specific non-volatile (liquid) organic compounds which are conveyed to them from the environment. These compounds emanate from prey, predators, and the compounds called sex pheromones from potential mates. Activation of the VNO triggers an appropriate behavioral response to the presence of one of these th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earthworms
An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial animal, terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. The term is the common name for the largest members of the class (biology), class (or subclass (biology), subclass, depending on the author) Oligochaeta. In classical systems, they were in the order of Opisthopora since the male pores opened posterior to the female pores, although the internal male segments are anterior to the female. Theoretical Cladistics, cladistic studies have placed them in the suborder Lumbricina of the order Haplotaxida, but this may change. Other slang names for earthworms include "dew-worm", "rainworm", "nightcrawler", and "angleworm" (from its use as angling fishing bait, hookbaits). Larger terrestrial earthworms are also called megadriles (which translates to "big worms") as opposed to the microdriles ("small worms") in the semiaquatic families Tubificidae, Lumbricidae and Enchytraeidae. The megadriles are characterized by a distinct clite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Frog
The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog or simply the frog, is a semi-aquatic amphibian of the family Ranidae, found throughout much of Europe as far north as Scandinavia and as far east as the Urals, except for most of the Iberian Peninsula, southern Italy, and the southern Balkans. The farthest west it can be found is Ireland. It is also found in Asia, and eastward to Japan. The nominative, and most common, subspecies ''Rana temporaria temporaria'' is a largely terrestrial frog native to Europe. It is distributed throughout northern Europe and can be found in Ireland, the Isle of Lewis and as far east as Japan. Common frogs metamorphose through three distinct developmental life stages — aquatic larva, terrestrial juvenile, and adult. They have corpulent bodies with a rounded snout, webbed feet an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Toad
The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (''Bufo bufo'', from Latin ''bufo'' "toad"), is a toad found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, parts of Scandinavia, and some List of islands in the Mediterranean, Mediterranean islands), in the western part of North Asia, and in a small portion of Northwest Africa. It is one of a group of closely related animals that are descended from a common ancestral line of toads and which form a species complex. The toad is an inconspicuous animal as it usually lies hidden during the day. It becomes active at dusk and spends the night hunting for the invertebrates on which it feeds. It moves with a slow, ungainly walk or short jumps, and has greyish-brown skin covered with wart-like lumps. Although toads are usually solitary animals, in the breeding season, large numbers of toads converge on certain breeding ponds, where the males compete to mate with the females. Eggs are laid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
