Hierophis spinalis
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Hierophis spinalis |
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| ( Peters , 1866) |
Hierophis spinalis ( Syn . : Orientocoluber spinalis , Coluber spinalis ) is a non-poisonous snake from the family of the adder , more precisely, the subfamily of the land and tree snake . It is the only representative of its genus in Asia .
features
Hierophis spinalis can be 90 centimeters long with a tail length of 24 centimeters and is therefore significantly smaller than its European relatives of the genus Hierophis . It is light brown in color and has three conspicuous, yellowish white stripes along the body. The stripe on the middle of the body, starting at the level of the eyes (on the frontal ), runs along the middle row of back scales and ends at the tip of the tail. In front of and behind the eye there is a white spot with a red-brown border. The underside is also light, with only the underside of the head being yellowish white. A dark red-brown border is attached to the upper lip. The belly is ocher to brownish orange. The brown longitudinal lines on the edge of the abdomen are also typical.
In front of the eye there is a pre- eyepiece and - as with every snake of the genus Hierophis - a small presubocular directly below it, behind the eye are two postoculars, which are followed by two to three temporals . Of the eight or rarely nine shields of the upper lip , the third, fourth and fifth are directly adjacent to the eye. The number of lower lip shields is between nine and eleven.
The body scales are not keeled. Hierophis spinalis has 17–19 rows of dorsal scales on the neck , at the level of the last of the 180–205 ventral scales there are still 15 rows of dorsal scales, with the number of dorsal scales initially reduced by two at the level of the ninth ventral scale by merging the third and fourth rows. The second reduction, from 17 to 15 rows, takes place on the right at the level of the 123rd ventral scale and on the left at the level of the 124th ventral scale. Here, too, the third and fourth rows of back scales unite. The closely related yellow-green wrath snake and Balkan wrath snake , on the other hand, have 21 rows of dorsal scales on the neck. In these, too, the rows of back scales are always reduced to the side, so not, as with some other land and tree snakes, on the middle row of back scales ( vertebralia ). The only sexual dimorphism in this species is the larger number of ventral scales in the females.
Hierophis spinalis has a split anal scale and then between 85 and 102 tail scales ( scutum caudale ). The hemipenis has an enlarged, basal spine.
Way of life
Hierophis spinalis lives on sandy soils with bushy vegetation on mountain slopes or high valleys in deserts and arid steppes. They feed mainly on lizards and mice.
Like all snakes of the genus Hierophis , they lay eggs ( oviparous ). The clutch consists on average of nine eggs, which are 38 mm long and 11 mm wide in front of the deposit.
distribution
The species occurs in Russia , in eastern Kazakhstan , in northern China (from Xinjiang in the west to Heilongjiang in the east; north to Jiangsu , Shandong , Henan , Gansu , Suiyuan (province) , Shanxi , Hebei and deer ), in southern Mongolia as well in North and South Korea .
Systematics
Until genetic analyzes had shown otherwise , Hierophis spinalis, like many other snakes that specialize in hunting for nimble prey such as lizards, was placed in the genus of the angry snake ( Coluber ). After it had been shown that the species of the genus Coluber did not have a common ancestral form, the species of the ancient world were moved to the genera Dolichophis , Hierophis , Hemerophis , Hemorrhois and Platyceps , among others .
In addition to Hierophis spinalis , the genus Hierophis also includes the two European species, the yellow-green angry snake ( Hierophis viridiflavus ) and the Balkan angry snake ( Hierophis gemonensis ). Like many other genera in the Colubridae family, the Hierophis systematics is still under discussion and is the subject of current research. After further analysis, Hierophis spinalis may be moved to the genus of the dwarf snakes ( Eirenis ) in order to resolve the paraphyly of the genus.
Hazard and protection
In the Red List of IUCN is not done, it is nevertheless in certain areas due to the loss of their habitat at risk. In Mongolia's Red List, for example, it is listed as being of low risk, although continued depletion of resources in its habitat can lead to classification as endangered.
literature
- George Albert Boulenger : Catalog of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History) . Ed .: British Museum. 1894, ISBN 1-4021-0820-6 , pp. 394 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b George Albert Boulenger: Catalog of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History) . Ed .: British Museum. 1894, ISBN 1-4021-0820-6 , pp. 394 .
- ↑ a b c James R. Dixon: A Collection of Amphibians and Reptiles from West Central Korea . In: Herpetologica . tape 12 , no. 1 , 1956, ISSN 0018-0831 , p. 50-56 .
- ^ A b c Frederick A. Shannon: The Reptiles and Amphibians of Korea . In: Herpetologica . tape 12 , no. 1 , 1956, ISSN 0018-0831 , p. 22-49 .
- ^ A b Philip J. Clark, Robert F. Inger: Scale Reduction in Snakes . In: American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (Eds.): Copeia . tape 1942 , no. 3 , 1942, ISSN 0045-8511 , p. 163-170 .
- ↑ Larry David Wilson: Generic Reallocation and Review of Coluber fasciolatus Shaw (Serpentes: Colubridae) . In: Herpetologica . tape 23 , no. 4 , 1967, ISSN 0018-0831 , pp. 260-275 .
- ↑ a b c Kh. Terbish, Kh. Munkhbayar, EL Clark, J. Munkhbat, EM Monks, M. Munkhbaatar, JEM Baillie, L. Borkin, N. Batsaikhan, R. Samiya, DV Semenov: Mongolian Red List of Reptiles and Amphibians . In: Zoological Society of London (Ed.): Regional Red List Series . tape 5 . London 2006 ( PDF ). PDF ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2012 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.
- ↑ S. Blair Hedges: At the lower size limit in snakes: two new species of threadsnakes (Squamata: Leptotyphlopidae: Leptotyphlops) from the Lesser Antilles . In: Zootaxa . tape 1841 , 2008, ISSN 1175-5326 , p. 1-30 .
- ↑ a b Z. T. 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 ( PDF, 0.2 MB ). PDF, 0.2 MB ( 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.
- ↑ Hierophis spinalis in The Reptile Database ; Retrieved January 7, 2011.
