Colubrids

The family of colubrid snakes is the largest family of snakes in the world with approximately 2,000 different species separated into over 300 different genera. These colubrid snakes are commonly called colubrids. Some colubrids which are commonly found in the United States and Canada are garter snakes and eastern ribbon snakes.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

Family: Colubridae

Genus: Various (see below)

Species: Various (see below)

There are over 2,000 species of colubrids spread over 300 different genera in the Family Colubridae. There is a lot of variety among colubrid snakes. They vary in their size, color, habitat, location, diet, and even in the way they give birth. Many colubrid snakes have brown, gray, or black skin, but some have bright green or red skin. Many of these also have spotted, blotched, or striped markings. Colubrids grow to be between two and six feet (61 and 183 centimeters) long. Colubrid snakes have very unusual eyes. Their pupils come in three different shapes. Pupils are the black areas of the eyes which open and close to let in light. Colubrid snakes can have vertically elliptical pupils, horizontally elliptical pupils, or round pupils. Vertically elliptical pupils look like cats' pupils. They have the black part of the eye running straight up and down in a thin oval shape in the middle of the iris, or colored part of the eye. Horizontally elliptical pupils have the black part running across the iris from left to right, again in an oval shape. Round pupils are what people have. They are black circles positioned in the middle of the iris. Another interesting thing about colubrid snakes is that they do not have eyelids. Instead they have brilles, or transparent, or clear, coverings which rest over their eyes like window panes. Like all snakes, colubrid snakes shed their skin many times during the year. This process is called sloughing and makes the snakes' skin look clean and shiny. Humans also shed their skin, but at a much slower rate. Like other reptiles, colubrid snakes are cold-blooded. This means their body temperatures are affected by the temperatures of their surroundings.

The over 2,000 different species of colubrid snakes cover all of the continents of the globe except Antarctica and can be found in many different environments. Colubrids live in rain forests, thorn scrublands, ponds, rivers, grasslands, and deserts, as well as underground. Some of them spend all of their time slithering along the ground, while others spend some of their time crawling through tree branches. Still others, spend their time swimming through the water or digging in the earth. As colubrid snakes slither through their various environments, they frequently stick out their forked tongues to learn about their surroundings. Like other snakes, harmless snakes pick up chemical signals with their tongues. They take these signals back into their mouths and put them in special grooves designed to figure out which chemicals are present in the environment. These grooves are called Jacobson's organs, and the process of determining which chemicals are present is called chemosensation. Colubrid snakes do this to help them trail prey, recognize predators, and find mates. In many parts of their range colubrid snakes cannot keep warm enough throughout the winter so they hibernate, or sleep, until spring comes.

Colubrid snakes are carnivorous, or meat-eating. Their diet may include a variety of foods such as snails, slugs, earthworms, crabs, fish, frogs, reptiles, birds, rodents, and other small mammals. Which of these foods are eaten depends on the size of the colubrid snake. Like other snakes, colubrids swallow their prey whole. Once their prey is dead, colubrid snakes open their moveable jaws over their preys' heads. As they are moving their jaws they grip their prey with their teeth, pushing them into their esophagi. The esophagus is the pipe-like organ which connects the mouth and the stomach. Colubrid snakes continue to push their prey until they are completely inside their bodies. Since they have very stretchy, flexible skin and only a few bones, they can swallow their prey whole without breaking them apart even inside their bodies.

Colubrid snakes have two different ways of giving birth, depending on their species. Some colubrids lay clutches, or batches, of eggs. The females may or may not coil themselves around their clutches to protect them from prey. The incubation period, which may vary between species, is the time period between the laying and hatching of the eggs. Colubrid snakes which do not lay eggs, give birth to live young. It is not known how long these snakes are pregnant, or how many young they give birth to.

Colubrid snakes are preyed upon by larger snakes, birds, skunks, racoons, and opossums. They are also often killed by humans who mistake them for dangerous, poisonous snakes.

Colubrid snakes have a life span that ranges between two and 50 years. Due to the number of species, different colubrids are classified as critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, threatened, near threatened, and species of least concern. At least one species of colubrid snake is believed to be extinct.

Bibliography

“BioKIDS - Kids' Inquiry of Diverse Species, Colubridae, Common Snakes: Information.” BioKIDS, 2024, www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Colubridae. Accessed 4 Apr. 2024.

“Colubrid Snakes (Family Colubridae).” iNaturalist, www.inaturalist.org/taxa/26504-Colubridae. Accessed 4 Apr. 2024.