Angry snakes
| Angry snakes | ||||||||||||
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Black snake ( Coluber constrictor ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Coluber | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The angry snakes ( Coluber ) are a genus within the family of the snakes , which got their name because of their aggressive defense. If they are held, they immediately defend themselves by biting and choking. After biting, they often chew on the objects they have gripped. This can cause the larger species among them to bite wounds that bleed profusely, but angry snakes are non-toxic.
The species in this genus are usually large (up to 2 meters long) and sturdy, but slender. The medium-sized head is oval-shaped and covered with large shields, the eyes are noticeably large. All species lay eggs. Angry Snakes are consistently very fleeting snakes that prefer warm and dry habitats. Thanks to their good eyesight and ability to react, they recognize potential enemies from a great distance and flee quickly.
The representatives of the angry snakes are rummaging hunters who can also catch fast prey such as mice , lizards and even birds . Angry Snakes are so agile because they get some of their energy from aerobic metabolic processes. Their lungs are more complex than many other types of snakes. The lungs are supplied with more blood vessels so that they can extract more oxygen from the air.
species
On the basis of molecular genetic studies, the Coluber genus was split up and restructured. The investigations on this are not yet fully completed. The species of the Old World were moved to the genera Dolichophis , Hierophis , Hemerophis , Hemorrhois (e.g. horseshoe snake ) and Platyceps . According to The Reptile Database , the following 12 species are included in Coluber :
- Coluber anthonyi ( Stejneger , 1901)
- Coluber aurigulus ( Cope , 1861)
- Coluber barbouri Van Denburgh & Slevin , 1921
- Coluber bilineatus ( Jan , 1863)
- Black snake ( Coluber constrictor Linnaeus , 1758)
- Common coachman whip snake ( Coluber flagellum Shaw , 1802)
- Coluber fuliginosus ( Cope , 1895)
- Coluber lateralis ( Hallowell , 1853)
- Coluber mentovarius ( Duméril & Bibron , 1854)
- Coluber schotti ( Baird & Girard , 1853)
- Coluber slevini ( Lowe & Norris , 1955)
- Striped whip snake ( Coluber taeniatus ( Hallowell , 1852))
literature
- Wolf-Eberhard Engelmann, Jürgen Fritzsche, Rainer Günther, Fritz Jürgen Obst : amphibians and reptiles of Europe. Neumann Verlag, Leipzig 1985.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christopher McGowan: The Raptor and the Lamb - Predators and Prey in the Living World , Penguin Books, London 1998, ISBN 0-14-027264-X , p. 52
- ↑ ZT Nagy, R. Lawson, U. Joger, M. Wink: Molecular systematics of racers, whipsnakes and relatives (Reptilia: Colubridae) using mitochondrial and nuclear markers . In: Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research . tape 42 , no. 3 . Blackwell Verlag, 2004, ISSN 0947-5745 , p. 223–233 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1439-0469.2004.00249.x ( Online [PDF; 200 kB ]). Online ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ J. Speybroeck, P.-A. Crochet: Species list of the European herpetofauna - a tentative update . In: Podarcis . tape 8 , 2007, p. 8–34 ( Online [PDF; 1.7 MB ]).
- ^ Coluber in The Reptile Database
