Water snakes

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Water snakes
Antenna snake (Erpeton tentaculatum)

Antenna snake ( Erpeton tentaculatum )

Systematics
Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria)
Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata)
without rank: Toxicofera
Subordination : Snakes (serpentes)
Superfamily : Adder-like and viper-like (Colubroidea)
Family : Water snakes
Scientific name
Homalopsidae
Günther , 1864

The water snakes (Homalopsidae) are a family of snakes and live in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. They inhabit fresh water and brackish water . The best known species is the antenna snake ( Erpeton tentaculatum ). Water snakes feed mainly on fish and amphibians , the Cerberus species and Fordonia leucobalia prefer crabs and other crustaceans . The prey is lurked or it is felt in the murky water.

features

Water snakes become half a meter to one meter long. They are rather clumsy snakes with a blunt-snouted, broad and high head. The eyes are small, protruding a little and point upwards. The nostrils are also on the top of the head and can be closed. Water snakes have fangs in the back of their mouths ( snake ), but are considered harmless to humans. Nevertheless, there are always bite accidents, often with minor, sometimes severe and sometimes even fatal consequences. The toxicologist Meebs classifies all snakes without exception as poisonous animals. Water snakes have large tracheal lungs . Although they are aquatic animals, the tail is not flattened in any species. Some types are ringed gray-black.

Systematics

The water snakes were previously assigned as the subfamily Homalopsinae to the snakes (Colubridae), which today are considered paraphyletic in their old composition. In 2008, Vidal & Hedges raised the water snakes to family rank within the superfamily of the adder-like and viper-like (Colubroidae). The systematics of snakes is still the subject of current research. According to Pyron et al. the following system arises within the Colubroidae:

 Adder-like and viper-like 



Vipers (Viperidae)


   

Adders (Colubridae)


   


Poison Snakes (Elapidae)


   

Lamprophiidae



   

Water snakes (Homalopsidae)





   

Pareidae



   

Mute snakes (Xenodermatidae)



Cerberus rynchops

There are 28 genera and currently 53 species within the water snake family:

literature

  • Chris Mattison: Encyclopedia of Snakes. BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8354-0360-4 .
  • K. Deckert, Gisela Deckert , GE Freytag, G. Peters, G. Sterba: Urania animal kingdom, fish, amphibians, reptiles. Urania-Verlag, 1991, ISBN 3-332-00376-3 .
  • N. Vidal, SB Hedges: The molecular evolutionary tree of lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians. In: Comptes Rendus Biologies. Volume 332, No. 2-3, Feb-Mar 2009, pp. 129-139, doi: 10.1016 / j.crvi.2008.07.010 .
  • D. Meebs: Poisonous Animals and Their Weapons - A Handbook for Biologists, Toxicologists, Doctors, and Pharmacists. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, 2000, ISBN 3-8047-1639-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ R. Alexander Pyron, Frank T. Burbrink, Guarino R. Colli, Adrian Nieto Montes de Oca, Laurie J. Vitt, Caitlin A. Kuczynski and John J. Wiens: The phylogeny of advanced snakes (Colubroidea), with discovery of a new subfamily and comparison of support methods for likelihood trees . In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 2010, p. 329–342 , doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2010.11.006 .
  2. ↑ John C. Murphy, Harold K. Voris: A Checklist and Key to the Homalopsid Snakes (Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes), with the Description of New Genera. In: Fieldiana Life and Earth Sciences. Volume 31, No. 4, 2014, pp. 1-43, doi: 10.3158 / 2158-5520-14.8.1 .
  3. ↑ Homalopsidae in The Reptile Database

Web links

Commons : Water snakes (Homalopsidae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files