European water snakes

European water snakes
	Barring snake
Systematics
without rank:	Toxicofera
Subordination :	Snakes (serpentes)
Superfamily :	Adder-like and viper-like (Colubroidea)
Family :	Adders (Colubridae)
Subfamily :	Water snakes (Natricinae)
Genre :	European water snakes
Scientific name
	Natrix
	Laurenti , 1768

Natrix is the scientific generic name of the European water snakes or swimming snakes . This genus consists of five to six species. The most famous representative in Central Europe is the grass snake . The medium-sized to large snakes of this genus are slender, agile animals that live semi-aquatic.

In contrast to the higher-level taxa in science, the generic concept is considered accepted and stable. The snakes from Asia, America and Africa, which were classified in the genus before 1960, have been moved to their own genus.

features

The snakes of the genus Natrix are between one and two meters long. The pupils are, typical of snakes , round. The scales on the top of the body are clearly keeled. In the middle of the body they have 19 to 21 rows of back scales ( dorsalia ). The scales behind the eye ( postoculars ) are followed by exactly one temporal line . The belly scales are not keeled. The anal scale is divided.

distribution

They occur exclusively in the Palearctic Ocean , the range of the genus stretches from Morocco and Iran in the south to Mongolia in the east via Finland and Great Britain in the north, whereby the grass snake has the largest range.

Way of life

Their diet consists of rodents, frogs and fish. They cannot be dangerous to humans.

Internal system

The genus Natrix includes:

the Iberian grass snake ( N. astreptophora ),

the barn grass snake ( N. helvetica ),

the grass snake ( Natrix natrix ),

the viper snake ( N. maura ),

the large-headed grass snake ( N. megalocephala ) (species status disputed) ,

the dice snake ( N. tesselata ).

External system

The genus Natrix belongs to the subfamily of the water snakes Natricinae . Thus the genus is in a subfamily in which snakes from all over the world are listed. For example, the garter snakes from North and Central America belong to the Natricinae, as do African and Asian swimming snakes. The snake family (Colubridae), to which the water snakes belong, is considered a paraphyletic group, which means that not all of the snakes listed under snakes need to be related to one another. The systematics of this higher snake taxa is still the subject of scientific discussion.

literature

Wolfgang Böhme : Handbook of the reptiles and amphibians of Europe - Volume 3 / IIA: Snakes II - Serpentes II: Colubridae 2 (Boiginae, Natricinae) . Aula-Verlag , 1999, ISBN 3-89104-616-2 , p. 481 f .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Böhme, Wolfgang: Handbook of Reptiles and Amphibians in Europe - Volume 3 / IIA: Snakes II - Serpentes II: Colubridae 2 (Boiginae, Natricinae) , p. 481
↑ Wolfgang Böhme: Handbook of the reptiles and amphibians of Europe - Volume 3 / I: Schlangen (Serpentes) I - (Typhlopidae, Boidae, Colubridae 1: Colubrinae) . Aula-Verlag (Wiebelsheim), 1993, ISBN 3-89104-003-2 , p. 68 .
↑ Boris Tuniyev, Natalia Ananjeva, Nikolai Orlov, Sako Tuniyev 2008: Natrix megalocephala . In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
↑ Agasyan, A., Avci, A., Tuniyev, B., Isailovic, JC, Lymberakis, P., Andrén, C., Cogalniceanu, D., Wilkinson, J., Ananjeva, N., Üzüm, N., Orlov, N., Podloucky, R., Tuniyev, S., Kaya, U., Ajtic, R., Vogrin M., Corti, C., Mellado, VP, Sá-Sousa, P., Cheylan, M., Pleguezuelos, J., Baha El Din, SM, Nettmann, HK, De Haan, CC, Sterijovski, B., Schmidt, B., Meyer, A. 2009: Natrix tessellata . In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
↑ Jose Antonio Mateo Miras, Marc Cheylan, M. Saïd Nouira, Ulrich Joger, Paulo Sá-Sousa, Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Benedikt Schmidt, Andreas Meyer, Roberto Sindaco, Antonio Romano, Iñigo Martínez-Solano 2008. Natrix maura . In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
^ European Reptile & Amphibian Specialist Group 1996: Natrix natrix . In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
^ Böhme, Wolfgang: Handbook of the reptiles and amphibians of Europe - Volume 3 / IIA: Snakes II - Serpentes II: Colubridae 2 (Boiginae, Natricinae)
^ Natrix in The Reptile Database ; Retrieved January 22, 2011.
↑ Felix Pokrant, Carolin Kindler, Martin Ivanov, Marc Cheylan, Philippe Geniez, Wolfgang Böhme & Uwe Fritz: Integrative taxonomy provides evidence for the species status of the Ibero-Maghrebian grass snake Natrix astreptophora. In: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 118, 2016, p. 873, doi : 10.1111 / bij.12782 .
↑ Carolin Kindler, Maxime Chèvre, Sylvain Ursenbacher, Wolfgang Böhme, Axel Hille, Daniel Jablonski, Melita Vamberger & Uwe Fritz: Hybridization patterns in two contact zones of grass snakes reveal a new Central European snake species. In: Scientific Reports 7, 2016, article number 7378, doi : 10.1038 / s41598-017-07847-9 .

Web links

Commons : European water snakes ( Natrix ) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Natrix in The Reptile Database

[Böhme481-1] Böhme, Wolfgang: Handbook of Reptiles and Amphibians in Europe - Volume 3 / IIA: Snakes II - Serpentes II: Colubridae 2 (Boiginae, Natricinae) , p. 481

[b93-2] Wolfgang Böhme: Handbook of the reptiles and amphibians of Europe - Volume 3 / I: Schlangen (Serpentes) I - (Typhlopidae, Boidae, Colubridae 1: Colubrinae) . Aula-Verlag (Wiebelsheim), 1993, ISBN 3-89104-003-2 , p. 68 .

[IUCN_megalocephala-3] Boris Tuniyev, Natalia Ananjeva, Nikolai Orlov, Sako Tuniyev 2008: Natrix megalocephala . In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Retrieved December 22, 2010.

[IUCN_tessellata-4] Agasyan, A., Avci, A., Tuniyev, B., Isailovic, JC, Lymberakis, P., Andrén, C., Cogalniceanu, D., Wilkinson, J., Ananjeva, N., Üzüm, N., Orlov, N., Podloucky, R., Tuniyev, S., Kaya, U., Ajtic, R., Vogrin M., Corti, C., Mellado, VP, Sá-Sousa, P., Cheylan, M., Pleguezuelos, J., Baha El Din, SM, Nettmann, HK, De Haan, CC, Sterijovski, B., Schmidt, B., Meyer, A. 2009: Natrix tessellata . In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Retrieved December 22, 2010.

[IUCN_maura-5] Jose Antonio Mateo Miras, Marc Cheylan, M. Saïd Nouira, Ulrich Joger, Paulo Sá-Sousa, Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Benedikt Schmidt, Andreas Meyer, Roberto Sindaco, Antonio Romano, Iñigo Martínez-Solano 2008. Natrix maura . In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Retrieved December 22, 2010.

[IUCN_natrix-6] European Reptile & Amphibian Specialist Group 1996: Natrix natrix . In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Retrieved December 22, 2010.

[7] Böhme, Wolfgang: Handbook of the reptiles and amphibians of Europe - Volume 3 / IIA: Snakes II - Serpentes II: Colubridae 2 (Boiginae, Natricinae)

[8] Natrix in The Reptile Database ; Retrieved January 22, 2011.

[9] Felix Pokrant, Carolin Kindler, Martin Ivanov, Marc Cheylan, Philippe Geniez, Wolfgang Böhme & Uwe Fritz: Integrative taxonomy provides evidence for the species status of the Ibero-Maghrebian grass snake Natrix astreptophora. In: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 118, 2016, p. 873, doi : 10.1111 / bij.12782 .

[10] Carolin Kindler, Maxime Chèvre, Sylvain Ursenbacher, Wolfgang Böhme, Axel Hille, Daniel Jablonski, Melita Vamberger & Uwe Fritz: Hybridization patterns in two contact zones of grass snakes reveal a new Central European snake species. In: Scientific Reports 7, 2016, article number 7378, doi : 10.1038 / s41598-017-07847-9 .