Transcaucasian ratsnake

The Transcaucasian ratsnake (Zamenis hohenackeri), also commonly known as the Gavand snake,[3] is a species of nonvenomous ratsnake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Western Asia and the Middle East.

Transcaucasian ratsnake
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Zamenis
Species:
Z. hohenackeri
Binomial name
Zamenis hohenackeri
(Strauch, 1873)
Synonyms[2]
  • Coluber hohenackeri
    Strauch, 1873
  • Elaphe hohenackeri
    — Engelmann et al., 1993
  • Zamenis hohenackeri
    — Utiger et al., 2002

Etymology

The specific name, hohenackeri, is in honor of Rudolph Friedrich Hohenacker, who was a Swiss missionary, physician, and naturalist.[4]

Geographic range

Z. hohenackeri is found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, southwestern Russia, Syria, and Turkey.[2]

Description

Z. hohenackeri may attain a total length of 65 cm (26 in), which includes a tail 11 cm (4.3 in) long. Dorsally, it is gray with four alternating series of dark brown spots. Ventrally, it is reddish or yellowish, marbled or spotted with gray. On the head, there is a diagonal black streak from the eye to the corner of the mouth, and a vertical black line below the eye.[5]

Habitat

Z. hohenackeri is found in mountainous areas, in a variety of habitats, from dry to wet, including agricultural areas.[1]

Reproduction

Z. hohenackeri is oviparous.[2] Clutch size is 3–7 eggs.[1]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]

  • Zamenis hohenackeri hohenackeri (Strauch, 1873)
  • Zamenis hohenackeri tauricus (F. Werner, 1898)

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Zamenis.

References
  1. Hraoui-Bloquet S; et al. (2009). "Zamenis hohenackeri ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  2. Species Zamenis hohenackeri at The Reptile Database
  3. Latifi, Mahmoud (1991). The Snakes of Iran. Oxford, Ohio: Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 156 pp. ISBN 0-916984-22-2. ("Elaphe hohenackeri, Gavand Snake", p. 110).
  4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Zamenis hohenacker, p. 125).
  5. Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. Plates I-XX. (Coluber hohenackeri, p. 42).

Further reading
  • Strauch A (1873). "Die Schlangen des Russischen Reichs, in systematischer und zoogeographischer Beziehung ". Mémoires de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg, [Seventh Series] 21 (4): 1-288 + Plates I-VI. (Coluber hohenackeri, new species, pp. 69–73 + Plate II, figures a-b). (in German and Latin).
  • Utiger, Urs; Helfenberger, Notker; Schätti, Beat; Schmidt, Catherine; Ruf, Markus; Ziswiler Vincent (2002). "Molecular systematics and phylogeny of Old World and New World ratsnakes, Elaphe Auct., and related genera (Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae)". Russian Journal of Herpetology 9 (2): 105–124. (Zamenis hohenackeri, new combination).
  • Werner F (1898). "Über einige neue Reptilien und einen neuen Frosch aus dem cilisischen Taurus ". Zoologischer Anzeiger 21 (555): 217–223. (Coluber tauricus, new species, pp. 217–220). (in German).
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