The Learning Zone

[gregmonsta]

For a second I though something happened to your concinnus... Luckily this is not the case.

Interesting autopsy.

You're telling me ... they're fit and healthy and I've been making sure I don't open the autopsy file when they're looking .
Think it's a really interesting coloured specimen though ... I found an interesting paper on DNA counts on all of the 'red-sided' west coast species. I'm finding concinnus more and more interesting. They are in majority for quite a huge range and there are massive amounts if intergrading with parietalis, infernalis, pickeringi and fitchi. The paper was bogged down with heavy study language but had some interesting end results. Going by the pictures several snakes that I would have said were fitchi, parietalis or pickeringi turned out to be concinnus from their DNA!! Ain't that something !?! ... I'm off to find the link

[gregmonsta]

http://www.faculty.virginia.edu/brod...0ME%202002.pdf

[gregmonsta]

Love the blue head on this one http://www.californiaherps.com/nonca...ussr05head.jpg

from

Thamnophis sirtalis concinnus - Red-spotted Gartersnake

[ssssnakeluvr]

http://www.faculty.virginia.edu/brod...0ME%202002.pdf

very interesting article....will read more thoroughly later!!

[Stefan-A]

It's a shame I didn't have a digital camera in the bad old days. There would have been a lot of snake obduction (autopsy, necropsy, whatever other synonym there is) photos to post.

[reptile3]

whoa that was sooo interesting... thank you Greg for posting this.

[gregmonsta]

More autopsies including an interesting ... seemingly tumerous garter

Heidi's Homepage

[gregmonsta]

The Male Red-sided Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis):

Reproductive Pattern and Behavior

http://dels.nas.edu/ilar_n/ilarjourn...501krohmer.pdf

[gregmonsta]

The energetic consequences of dietary specialization in populations of the garter

snake, Thamnophis elegans

http://compphys.bio.uci.edu/bennett/pubs/169.pdf

[gregmonsta]

Multiple paternity in the western terrestrial garter

snake, Thamnophis elegans

http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/ioz/people/...83_656-663.pdf