Natricinae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Keelbacks)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Natricinae
File:Natrix tessellata Rheinland-Pfalz 02.jpg
Dice snake, Natrix tessellata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Natricinae
Bonaparte, 1838
Genera

36, see text

The Natricinae are a subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Natricidae).[1] The subfamily comprises 36 genera. Members include many very common snake species, such as the European grass snakes, and the North American water snakes and garter snakes. Some Old World members of the subfamily are known as keelbacks, because their dorsal scales exhibit strong keeling.

Natricine snakes are found in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Central America as far south as Costa Rica. A single species, Tropidonophis mairii, reaches Australia. Although the highest diversity is in North America, the oldest members are in Asia and Africa, suggesting an Old World origin for the group. Most species are semiaquatic and feed on fish and amphibians, although a few are semifossorial or leaf-litter snakes that feed on invertebrates. Most species are harmless to humans, but a few (e.g., Thamnophis sirtalis, Thamnophis elegans) are capable of inflicting bites that can result in local, non-life-threatening symptoms, and at least two members of the genus Rhabdophis (R. tigrinus and R. subminiatus) are capable of inflicting life-threatening bites to humans, though they have only enlarged, ungrooved fangs in the back of the mouth.[2]

Classification

[edit | edit source]

The Natricinae are recognised as a sister group of the Dipsadinae plus the Pseudoxenodontinae.[3]

Genera

[edit | edit source]

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). 364 pp. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
  3. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ Species Blythia reticulata at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

[edit | edit source]
  • Goin, Coleman J.; Goin, Olive B.; Zug, George R. (1978). Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company. xi + 378 pp. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. (Natricinae, p. 326).


Lua error in Module:Taxonbar at line 165: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).