Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Madagascar Night Snake
Description
Family Colubridae
The family Colubridae, which includes the kingsnakes (Lampropeltis spp. ), is the largest, most widespread, and diverse family of snakes , with few physical characteristics universal among all species. The family contains 70 percent of the known species of snakes, with more than 1700 species worldwide (Pough et al. 1998). Although some colubrids are dangerously venomous , most are harmless to humans. [1]
Habitat
Ecology:
This species is found on or near the ground
(Lethinen 2002), is mainly
nocturnal
and inhabits a range
of habitats
including disturbed
secondary
forest
and the areas surrounding villages (Glaw and Vences 2007,
Lehtinen et al.
2003). This species is most common around
ponds
in the rainy season
(Glaw and Vences 2007).[2].
List of Habitats:
- 1 Forest
- 1.5 Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry
- 1.6 Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland
- 14 Artificial/Terrestrial
- 14.4 Artificial/Terrestrial - Rural Gardens
- 14.6 Artificial/Terrestrial - Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest [more info]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
()
- (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
()
- Grobben, 1908
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
()
- (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum:
Chordata
()
- Bateson, 1885
- Chordates
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
()
- Cuvier, 1812
- Vertebrates
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
()
- auct.
- Jawed Vertebrates
- Superclass:
Tetrapoda
()
- Goodrich, 1930
- Subclass:
Diapsida
()
- Infraclass:
Lepidosauromorpha
()
- Superorder:
Lepidosauria
()
-
- Order:
Squamata
()
- Suborder:
Serpentes
()
- (C. Linnaeus, 1758)
- Superfamily:
Colubroidea
()
- Family:
Colubridae
()
- Colubrids
- Subfamily:
Pseudoxyrhophiinae
()
- Genus:
Madagascarophis
()
- Mertens, 1952
- Specific name:
colubrinus
- (Schlegel, 1837)
- Scientific name: - Madagascarophis colubrinus (Schlegel, 1837)
- Specific name:
colubrinus
- (Schlegel, 1837)
- Genus:
Madagascarophis
(
- Subfamily:
Pseudoxyrhophiinae
(
- Family:
Colubridae
(
- Superfamily:
Colubroidea
(
- Suborder:
Serpentes
(
- Order:
Squamata
(
- Superorder:
Lepidosauria
(
- Infraclass:
Lepidosauromorpha
(
- Subclass:
Diapsida
(
- Superclass:
Tetrapoda
(
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
(
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
(
- Phylum:
Chordata
(
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
(
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
(
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Synonyms
Dipsas colubrina • Dipsas colubrina Schlegel 1837: 273 • Dipsas Colubrina — DumÉril & Bibron 1854: 1146 • Eteirodipsas colubrina • Eteirodipsas colubrina — Boulenger 1896: 39 • Madagascarophis colubrinus colubrinus< /i> (Schlegel 1837) • Madagascarophis colubrinus — Nagy Et Al. 2007
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
Five subspecies
are recognized.[2].
Similar Species
Members of the genus Madagascarophis
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 1 species and subspecies in this genus:
M. colubrinus (Madagascar Night Snake)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- A floral and faunal inventory of the Réserve Naturelle Intégrale d'Andohahela, Madagascar: with reference to elevational variation / Steven M. Goodman, editor. 94 1999 [Chicago, Ill.]: Field Museum of Natural History, c1999. url table 11-5 , p. 166.
Notes
Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 31, 2012.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 27, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from provider.
- IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
- Raxworthy, C.J. & Vences, M. 2010. Madagascarophis colubrinus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 01February2012.
- Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
- TIGR Reptile Database . Release date: October 2, 2007
- Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2542220
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-4689
- IUCN ID: 221142
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 617795
Footnotes
- Painter, Charles W., Chuck L. Hayes, and James N. Stuart "Recovery and Conservation of the Gray-Banded Kingsnake. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. May 1, 2002. [back]
- Raxworthy, C.J. & Vences, M. 2010. Madagascarophis colubrinus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 February 2012. [back]
