Document of bibliographic reference 287871

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Marine invasions by non-sea snakes, with thoughts on terrestrial-aquatic-marine transitions

Abstract

Few species of snakes show extensive adaptations to aquatic environments and even fewer exploit the oceans. A survey of morphology, lifestyles, and habitats of 2552 alethenophidian snakes revealed 362 (14%) that use aquatic environments, are semi-aquatic, or aquatic; about 70 (2.7%) of these are sea snakes (Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae). The ancient and aquatic family Acrochordidae contains three extant species, all of which have populations inhabiting brackish or marine environments, as well as freshwater. The Homalopsidae have the most ecologically diverse representatives in coastal habitats. Other families containing species exploiting saline waters with populations in freshwater environments include: the Dipsadidae of the western hemisphere, the cosmopolitan Natricidae, the African Grayinae, and probably a few Colubridae. Species with aquatic and semi-aquatic lifestyles are compared with more terrestrial (fossorial, cryptozoic, and arboreal) species for morphological traits and life histories that are convergent with those found in sea snakes; this may provide clues to the evolution of marine snakes and increase our understanding of snake diversity.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000306648900002

Bibliographic citation

Murphy, J.C. (2012). Marine invasions by non-sea snakes, with thoughts on terrestrial-aquatic-marine transitions. Integrative and Comparative Biology 52(2): 217-226. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icb/ics060

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true