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Pantherophis
''Pantherophis'' is a genus of nonvenomous colubrid snakes endemic to central and eastern regions of North America. It consists of the North American ratsnakes, the fox snake, foxsnakes, and the cornsnakes. The genus, which contains 10 recognized species, first appeared in the fossil record in the Middle Miocene around 16.3 million years ago. They are a large terrestrial snake genus that lack subocular scales. Originally classified in the genus ''Elaphe'', phylogenetic studies have found this taxon to be closely related to ''Pituophis''. As with all snakes ''Pantherophis'' is an obligate faunivore with a diet that consists of small mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and even insects. While many species' conservation status is categorized as "least concern", many local populations in some species have declined where some places have them listed as federally protected. The corn snake (''P. guttatus'') is a popular pet reptile, due to the availability of captive-bred animals, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corn Snake
The corn snake (''Pantherophis guttatus''), sometimes called red rat snake is a species of North American rat snake in the Family (biology), family Colubridae. The species subdues its small prey by constriction. It is found throughout the southeastern and central United States. Though superficially resembling the venomous copperhead (''Agkistrodon contortrix'') and often killed as a result of this mistaken identity, the corn snake lacks functional venom and is harmless. The corn snake is beneficial to humans because it helps to control populations of wild rodent pests that damage crops and spread disease. Nomenclature The corn snake is named for the species' regular presence near grain stores, where it preys on mice and rats that eat harvested corn (maize). The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' cites this usage as far back as 1675, whilst other sources maintain that the corn snake is so-named because the distinctive, nearly-checkered pattern of the snake's belly scales resembles t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantherophis Guttatus
The corn snake (''Pantherophis guttatus''), sometimes called red rat snake is a species of North American rat snake in the family Colubridae. The species subdues its small prey by constriction. It is found throughout the southeastern and central United States. Though superficially resembling the venomous copperhead (''Agkistrodon contortrix'') and often killed as a result of this mistaken identity, the corn snake lacks functional venom and is harmless. The corn snake is beneficial to humans because it helps to control populations of wild rodent pests that damage crops and spread disease. Nomenclature The corn snake is named for the species' regular presence near grain stores, where it preys on mice and rats that eat harvested corn (maize). The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' cites this usage as far back as 1675, whilst other sources maintain that the corn snake is so-named because the distinctive, nearly-checkered pattern of the snake's belly scales resembles the kernels of vari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corn Snake
The corn snake (''Pantherophis guttatus''), sometimes called red rat snake is a species of North American rat snake in the Family (biology), family Colubridae. The species subdues its small prey by constriction. It is found throughout the southeastern and central United States. Though superficially resembling the venomous copperhead (''Agkistrodon contortrix'') and often killed as a result of this mistaken identity, the corn snake lacks functional venom and is harmless. The corn snake is beneficial to humans because it helps to control populations of wild rodent pests that damage crops and spread disease. Nomenclature The corn snake is named for the species' regular presence near grain stores, where it preys on mice and rats that eat harvested corn (maize). The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' cites this usage as far back as 1675, whilst other sources maintain that the corn snake is so-named because the distinctive, nearly-checkered pattern of the snake's belly scales resembles t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ratsnake
Rat snakes are members – along with kingsnakes, milk snakes, vine snakes and indigo snakes – of the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. They are medium to large constrictors and are found throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. They feed primarily on rodents. Many species make attractive and docile pets and one, the corn snake, is one of the most popular reptile pets in the world. Like all snakes, they can be defensive when approached too closely, handled, or restrained. However, rat snake bites are not dangerous to humans. Like nearly all colubrids, rat snakes pose no threat to humans. Rat snakes were long believed to be completely nonvenomous, but recent studies have shown that some Old World species do possess small amounts of venom, though the amount is negligible relative to humans. Previously, most rat snakes were assigned to the genus '' Elaphe'', but many have been since renamed following mitochondrial DNA analysis performed in 2002. For the pur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elaphe
''Elaphe'' is a genus of snakes in the family Colubridae. ''Elaphe'' is one of the main genera of the rat snakes, which are found in many regions of the northern hemisphere. ''Elaphe'' species are medium to large constrictors by nature. Based on the mitochondrial DNA analysis results, many species of ''Elaphe'' have been moved to the genera '' Bogertophis'', '' Coelognathus'', '' Gonyosoma'', ''Orthriophis'', ''Pantherophis'', '' Rhinechis'', '' Senticolis'', '' Zamenis'', and others. Nevertheless, the generic name ''Elaphe'' is still widely used. Physical characteristics Like most of the rat snakes, ''Elaphe'' spp. generally have slender but sturdy bodies, square heads, and extremely flat bellies. Their sizes range from large medium to very large, Wright, A.H.; Wright, A.A. (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes). ("Rat Snakes", p. 209; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fox Snake
Fox snake or foxsnake is the common name given to some North American rat snakes of the genus ''Pantherophis ''Pantherophis'' is a genus of nonvenomous colubrid snakes endemic to central and eastern regions of North America. It consists of the North American ratsnakes, the fox snake, foxsnakes, and the cornsnakes. The genus, which contains 10 recognize ...''. It is generally agreed that there are two such species, but three candidate species names have arisen for them: * '' Pantherophis gloydi'' (eastern fox snake), originally described by Conant in 1940, merged with ''P. vulpinus'' in 2011 * '' Pantherophis vulpinus'' (foxsnake or western fox snake or eastern fox snake), originally described by Baird and Girard in 1853 * '' Pantherophis ramspotti'' (western fox snake), originally described by Crother, White, Savage, Eckstut, Graham and Gardner in 2011 {{Animal common name Colubrids Set index articles on snakes Snake common names ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snakes
Snakes are elongated Limbless vertebrate, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors and relatives, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most only have one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colubrid
Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from , 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest fossil species of the family date back to the Late Eocene epoch, with earlier origins suspected. Colubrid snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica. Description Colubrids are a very diverse group of snakes. They can exhibit many different body styles, body sizes, colors, and patterns. They can also live in many different types of habitats including aquatic, terrestrial, semi-arboreal, arboreal, desert, mountainous forests, semi-fossorial, and brackish waters. A primarily shy and harmless group of snakes, the vast majority of colubrids are not venomous, nor do most colubrids produce venom that is medically significant to mammals. However, the bites of some can escalate quickly to emergency situations. Furthermore, within the Colubridae, the South African boomslang and twig snakes, as well as the Asian keelback snakes ('' R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spencer Fullerton Baird
Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, Herpetology, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He eventually served as assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian from 1850 to 1878, and as Secretary from 1878 until 1887. He was dedicated to expanding the natural history collections of the Smithsonian which he increased from 6,000 specimens in 1850 to over 2 million by the time of his death. He also served as the U.S. United States Fish Commission, Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries from 1871 to 1887 and published over 1,000 works during his lifetime. Early life and education Spencer Fullerton Baird was born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1823. His mother was a member of the prominent Philadelphia Biddle family; he was a nephew of Speaker of the Pennsylvania Senate Charles B. Penrose and a first cousin, once removed, of U.S. Senator Boies Penr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Frédéric Girard
Charles Frédéric Girard (; 8 March 1822 – 29 January 1895) was a French biologist specializing in ichthyology and herpetology. Biography Girard was born on 8 March 1822 in Mulhouse, France. He studied at the College of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, as a student of Louis Agassiz. In 1847, he accompanied Agassiz as his assistant to Harvard University. Three years later, Spencer Fullerton Baird called him to the Smithsonian Institution to work on its growing collection of North American reptiles, amphibians and fishes. He worked at the museum for the next ten years and published numerous papers, many in collaboration with Baird. In 1854, he was naturalized as a U.S. citizen. Besides his work at the Smithsonian, he managed to earn an M.D. from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1856. In 1859 he returned to France and was awarded the Cuvier Prize by the Institute of France for his work on the North American reptiles and fishes two years later. When the American Civil Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian I
Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meaning "high" or "noble". For example, the element ''bre'' means "hill"; which could be transferred to mean "eminence" or "exalted one". The name is quite popular in Ireland, on account of Brian Boru, a 10th-century High King of Ireland. The name was also quite popular in East Anglia during the Middle Ages. This is because the name was introduced to England by Bretons following the Norman Conquest. Bretons also settled in Ireland along with the Normans in the 12th century, and 'their' name was mingled with the 'Irish' version. Also, in the north-west of England, the 'Irish' name was introduced by Scandinavian settlers from Ireland. Within the Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland, the name was at first only used by professional families of Irish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
