Steppe ratsnake

Steppe ratsnake
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Reptilia
Order:Squamata
Suborder:Serpentes
Family:Colubridae
Genus:Elaphe
Species: E. dione
Binomial name
Elaphe dione
(Pallas, 1773)
Synonyms[1]

Elaphe dione, commonly known as Dione's ratsnake, the steppe ratsnake, or the steppes ratsnake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae.

Geographic range

E. dione is found in eastern Ukraine, southern and southeastern Russia, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Mongolia, parts of China, and Korea.[1]

Etymology

The specific name, dione, refers to the Greek mythological figure Dione who was the mother of Aphrodite.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Species Elaphe dione at The Reptile Database
  2. ↑ 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. (Elaphe dione, p. 73).

Further reading

  • 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 dione, pp. 44-45).
  • Pallas PS (1773). Reise durch verschiedenen Provinzen des Russischen Reichs, Zweiter Theil. [=Travels through different Provinces of the Russian Empire, Volume 2]. Saint Petersburg: Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 744 pp. (Coluber dione, new species, p. 717). (in German and Latin).
  • Shannon FA (1956). "The Reptiles and Amphibians of Korea". Herpetologica 12 (1): 22-49.
  • Stejneger L (1907). Herpetology of Japan and Adjacent Territory. United States National Museum Bulletin 58. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. xx + 577 pp. (Elaphe dione, new combination, pp. 315-318, Figure 272).


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