Morphological characteristics of the elusive blotched snake (Elaphe sauromates)at its northwestern range limit (Romania)

Abstract

The blotched snake, Elaphe sauromates (Pallas 1814), is one of the largest and more massive European snakes, growing up to 2.6 m in length (Fuhn and Vancea, 1961). The species is easily recognizable by the yellow dorsal coloration with four rows of dark brown, black, or reddishbrown blotches and the black oblique line from the eye to the corner of the mouth (Fuhn and Vancea, 1961;Schultz, 1996;Böhme and Shcherbak, 1999). Juveniles differ in coloration from the adults, the background color being gray or yellowish with four to five rows of dark brown or black blotches (Fuhn and Vancea, 1961;Böhme and Shcherbak, 1999).Described in 1814 by Pallas, the species was demoted to a subspecies of the four-lined snake, Elaphe quatuorlineata (Lacepede, 1789), the type locality being restricted to Isthmus near Perekop, Tauria, Ukraine by Mertens and Müller (1928). Molecular analyses conducted by Lenk et al. (2001) and Utiger et al. (2002) indicated the existence of three clades within E. quatuorlineata, of which E. sauromates is the most genetically distinct.The distribution range of the blotched snake partially covers two continents

The biogeography ofElaphe sauromates(Pallas, 1814), with a description of a new rat snake species

“…E. urartica sp. nov. attains shorter lengths than E. sauromates (795 ± 80 mm vs. 937 ± 152 mm in E. sauromates males, 861 ± 97 mm vs. 929 ± 160 mm in E. sauromates females; though E. sauromates from other parts of the range, for example, the Balkans, can be even larger than specimens in our dataset, see Sahlean et al, 2016). Both taxa also differ in some relative head dimensions.…”

“…In total, we targeted 15 metric and 18 meristic (scale count) characters, however not all measurements or counts were available for each individual (see Sahlean et al, 2016; Table S2 for explanation of the characters). In addition to the measurements and scale counts, we calculated two main morphometric indices: the snout-vent length to tail length (SVL/TL) and the snout-vent length to head length (SVL/HL) ratio.…”

Morphometric characteristics and seasonal proximity to water of the Cypriot blunt-nosed viper Macrovipera lebetina lebetina (Linnaeus, 1758)

“…For all collected morphometric measurements, the mean, standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) were calculated. As a body condition index (BCI) for each snake, Fulton’s index (K) was calculated using the formula [21, 22]. Prior to statistical analysis, all distance and morphometric data were tested for normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test.…”

“…Although snake body mass (or weight) is rarely reported in the literature, it is considered the best measure of body size in life history studies and often a more useful proxy than length [20]. In this study, the snake body condition index was calculated as a measure of thickness based on M. l. lebetina body weight and length [21, 22]. As published data on sex-specific morphological differences in M. lebetina are scarce and sometimes contradictory, comparing different morphological characteristics between male and female blunt-nosed vipers can contribute to filling this knowledge gap.…”