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State of the Snake

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State of the Snake State of the Snake Rainbow Snake (Farancia erytrogramma) Photo Credit: J.D. Willson Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) is celebrating 2013 as the Year of the Snake! This effort aims to raise awareness about the global status of snakes and the threats and human perceptions that contribute to their decline. As the Year of the Snake unfolds, it is the goal of PARC to educate the public about the importance of these species, their importance to our ecosystems, the value of snakes to humans, and the beauty and mystique of these animals and the places they inhabit. Log on to www.yearofthesnake.org to learn more! The Wonderful, Wild World of Snakes Snakes are one of the most fascinating groups of animals on the planet. They occur in a variety of habitats everywhere around the world with the exception of Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, Ireland, New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, Antarctica, and some smaller islands. Snakes survive in some of the most extreme environments on Earth, including inside the Arctic Circle, high in the Himalaya Mountains, Map showing the approximate deep in Amazonian rainforests, and in some of global distribution of snakes is the driest deserts. Some snakes, such as Blind- based on: Ernst (2011) and Cogger snakes, Threadsnakes, and Wormsnakes, spend et al. (1998) for terrestrial snakes most of their time underground, while some, such and Ernst (2011), Campbell (2004), Phillips (2002), and Spawls (1995) as Paradise Tree Snakes (Chrysopelea paradisi), for sea snakes. live in the tree tops and have the ability to glide through the air, and others, such as Sea snakes, spend their entire lives swimming in the open ocean. Snakes can have a variety of diets, including mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, other reptiles (even other snakes, eggs), snails, insects and other invertebrates. In almost every aspect of their biology, snakes teach us amazing things about the natural world. Photo Credit: Marisa Ishimatsu Lined Coachwhip (Coluber flagellum) 2 The Life of a Snake Movement and Habitat Selection Movement and habitat selection vary Foraging significantly across snake species. For example, some Snakes are either active foragers, like Indigo small fossorial species (adapted for living Snakes (Drymarchon spp.), ambush predators, underground) may have very small home ranges (less such as Bushmasters (Lachesis spp.), or a than a hectare), compared to large pythons that hunt combination of the two, for example Cotton- sizeable mammalian prey (100s of hectares). Snakes mouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus). Snakes that have evolved to use a variety of approaches to are ambush predators will sit and wait, often on moving through their habitat, including burrowing, frequently used prey trails, and strike the prey as climbing, swimming, and gliding. While habitat it passes close to them. Ambush predators often selection varies across the many environments snakes spend long periods of time on the surface in inhabit, it is most often related to the availablity of foraging postures and rely on camouflage resources, like thermoregulation and prey availability, coloration (also known as cryptic coloration) to and to a lesser degree, competition and predation. hide themselves from potential predators and prey. Active foraging involves the snake Photo Credit: J.D. Willson moving regularly through an area searching for prey, and may include searching known nest sites or bedding areas. Snake species that utilize both ambush and active foraging techniques usually exhibit an ontogenetic shift in foraging strategy, with juveniles employing ambush tactics then developing an active foraging behavior as adults. Photo Credit: Manojkumar Pardeshi Indian Sand Boa (Eryx johnii) consuming prey. Eastern Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula getula), an example of an oviparous snake. Reproduction Mating systems and seasons vary among snake species. Some snakes, such as Gartersnakes (Thamnophis spp.), breed in the spring, whereas others, such as some Rattlesnakes (Crotalus spp. and Sistrurus spp.), breed in the late summer and fall. Snake fertilization is internal. Males have paired hemipenes that they insert into the cloaca of the female. The hemipenes are often hooked or spiny to attach temporarily to the wall of the clo- aca. There are three modes of reproduction in snakes: ovoviviparity, oviparity, and viviparity. Ovoviviparity is when the embryos develop inside eggs within the mother’s body until they are close to hatching. The snakes are born live, but there is never a placental connection to the mother, and the embryos are nourished by egg yolk. Many, but not all, pit vipers are ovoviviparous. Oviparity is when the snake lays eggs, with all development occurring within the egg outside of the body of the mother. Oviparous snakes include Pythons (Python spp.), Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis spp.), Pine Snakes (Pituophis spp.), Milk Snakes (Lampropeltis spp.), and Corn Snakes (Pantherophis spp.). Finally, viviparity is the development of the embryos inside of the mother, where the mother has a connection to the young and is able to provide the embryos with nourishment and remove waste, resulting in live birth of young snakes. Viviparous snakes include Seasnakes (Pelamis spp.), Green Anacondas (Eunectes murinus), and Boa Constrictors (Boa spp.). 3 Venom Quick Facts! Only one-fifth of all snake species have the ability to produce venom in order to kill or subdue prey for consumption; this includes elapid, viperid, colubrid and hydrophiid snakes. Consuming a prey item that does not struggle requires less energy than eating moving prey. In addition, some snake venom contains enzymes that aid in digestion (such as Puff Adders [Bitis arietans] and Mulga or King Brown Snakes [Pseudechis australis]). All snakes within the Viperidae (such as Fea’s Viper [Azemiops feae]) and Elapidae (such as Taipans [Oxyuranus spp.]) families produce venom, as do many colubrids (such as Black-headed Snakes [Tantilla spp.], Cat-eye Snakes [Leptodeira seqtentrionalis], and Boomslangs [Dispholidus typus]). Venom is produced in the venom glands and delivered to the fangs when the snake bites its prey. The venom is then either delivered through a closed canal in the center of the fangs, or flows through grooves on the fangs into the injection site. Some species, such as Indonesian Cobra (Naja sputatrix), can also spit venom in intricate patterns; however, this is primarily a defense mechanism and not a method of subduing prey. Photo Credit: Mark Danaher Eastern Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius) Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) No Legs?! One distinguishing trait that separates snakes from most other reptiles is the lack of legs. Snakes can slither, climb, swim, burrow….but how? Here are three of the ways snakes can move terrestrially. Lateral Undulation Sidewinding Reticular Movement Lateral undulation is the Sidewinding is similar to Reticular movement is when the movement most people think of lateral undulation, except that it snake moves straight forward by when they imagine a snake moving. relies more on muscle and less on gripping the ground or rough The snake employs muscles, scales, scales and resistance points. The surface with its belly scales and and resistance points on the ground snake contracts its muscles to form moving its body up and down in surface to move. The process starts an s-shape, then flings its body from arches to move forward. Reticular with the snake using its muscles to side to side to move forward. With movement is similar to the bend its body, and then using the the sidewinding technique, all but movement of an inch worm, but scales to push into resistance points two points of the snake’s body are without legs and much less on the ground so it can move off the ground. There is a species of exaggerated. An example of a forward. Most colubrid snakes snake named after this type of species that employs this type of employ this type of movement. movement - Sidewinders (Crotalus movement is Red-tailed Boa (Boa cerastes). constrictor constrictor). 4 Common Threats to Snakes Habitat Loss and Fragmentation Photo Credit: Abir Ahmed Like most species, snakes suffer from loss and fragmentation of habitat. This is possibly the greatest overall threat to snakes. All snakes are predators. They need to hunt for prey, and may move widely across a fragmented landscape. In the process, they come in contact with many physical barriers, such as roads with fast-moving traffic, open areas where no cover is available, and other hazards that contribute to their decline. Many species suffer from habitat loss. For example, the Southeastern Coastal Plain of the United States, 98% of historical Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) habitat no Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus) in Bangladesh. longer exists, causing declines in snake species such as Southern Hognose Snakes (Heterodon simus), Eastern Over-collection Diamondback Rattlesnakes (Crotalus adamanteus), Some snake species are so charismatic and Pinesnakes (Pituophis melanoleucus), and Eastern unique that they are heavily exploited for the Indigo Snakes (Drymarchon couperi), which are listed pet and skin trade. For example, in 1997, King as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act Ratsnakes (Elaphe carinata) were one of the (ESA). most numerous reptile imports into the United States for the pet and skin trade; China alone Where rainforest once covered over 14% of the Earth’s exported 37,425 King Ratsnakes to the U.S. that surface, it now covers only 6% and is still declining, year. thereby affecting
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