Peanut
| Peanut | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ground snake ( Pantherophis obsoletus obsoletus ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Pantherophis obsoletus | ||||||||||||
| ( Say , 1823) |
The Rat Snake ( Pantherophis obsoletus ), even mountain snake or pilot Natter called, is a snake from the genus of the American rat snakes ( Pantherophis ): it is in North America is home and not toxic.
description
The peanut snake is a very differently colored snake species. The appearance ranges from black to dark brown tones and red to almost yellow snakes. Most of the time the top of the adder is darker in color than the belly, often one can also find darker longitudinal stripes that extend over the whole body. This slender snake species is 160 to 180 cm long on average, the largest specimens can measure 250 cm. The head hardly separates from the body, the pupils are rounded.
Peanuts can live up to 20 years.
habitat
The peanut occurs in the eastern United States and Canada, as well as in Mexico . Their habitat is quite diverse, it inhabits forests, swamps and meadows.
In the cold months the peanut hibernates for three to five months .
nutrition
The peanut feed is carnivorous . It eats small rodents , lizards and birds . The prey is killed by being entangled and strangled, then devoured head first.
Reproduction
Peanuts reach sexual maturity after 18 to 24 months. The mating takes place after the hibernation in spring. The gestation period is around 40 to 60 days, with around ten to twenty eggs being laid after this time. The eggs are laid in a hollow in the moist soil. After laying down, the female carefully closes the hollow. Depending on the incubation temperature, the young snakes hatch after 60 to 90 days and are 25 to 35 cm in length. The hatching of a snake can take one to three days. During this time, the broken egg serves as protection and a moisturizer, the yolk sac as food.
Subspecies
The Pantherophis obsoletus complex, which previously consisted of seven subspecies, was subjected to a more detailed genetic analysis in 2000 and 2001 by Burbrink, Lawson and Slowinski. The two subspecies P. o. Deckerti and P. o williamsi were not recognized by all authors, which is why only five subspecies were mentioned in places. Their results clearly indicated that the subspecies could be classified into three large groups. According to the current status, there are three peanut species without subspecies:
- Pantherophis alleghaniensis (formerly P. o. Deckerti , P. o. Rossaleni and P. o. Quadrivittata )
- Pantherophis spiloides (formerly P. o. Spiloides , P. o. Williamsi and P. o. Lindheimeri of the Mississippi to the east)
- Pantherophis obsoletus (formerly P. o. Obsoletus and P. o. Lindheimeri west of the Mississippi)
The last two groups contain specimens of P. o. Lindheimeri , which led to a division of this subspecies. The range of P. o. Lindheimeri is divided by the Mississippi, so that there could be no gene exchange between the animals living in the west and the animals in the east. The genetic tests also confirmed this and so the western specimens were assigned to P. obsoletus and the eastern ones to P. spiloides . For terrarium keeping this unfortunately means that all currently available "lindheimeri" (including the popular Leucists) are potential hybrid species as long as they do not have a proven pedigree that clarifies the location of the original animals and all animals involved in the line.
The peanut snake is classified as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Article about peanuts with pictures
- ↑ BURBRINK, FRANK T., LAWSON, ROBIN, AND JOSEPH. B. SLOWINSKI (2000) Molecular phylogeography of the North American rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta): A critique of the subspecies concept. Evolution 54 (6): 2107-2114.
- ↑ BURBRINK, FRANK T. (2001) Systematics of the North American Rat Snake Complex (Elaphe obsoleta). Herpetological Monographs 15: 1-53.
- ↑ Pantherophis obsoletus in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010.
