Trimorphodon

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Trimorphodon

Trimorphodon is a genus

Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
of mildly venomous, rear-fanged, colubrid

Colubrid

A colubrid is a snake that is a member of the family Colubridae. It is a broad classification of snakes that includes about two thirds of all snake species on earth....
snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate legless carnivore reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears....
s. They are commonly known as lyre snakes, named after the distinctive V shaped pattern on their head that is said to resemble the shape of a lyre

Lyre

The lyre is a string instrument well known for its use in classical antiquity and later. The recitations of the Ancient Greece were accompanied by lyre playing....
. In Mexico, they are commonly called "víbora de uña," or "nail viper." The word Trimorphodon is a combination of three Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
words, 'tri' - three, 'morph' - shape, and 'odon' - teeth, which refers to the three distinct kinds of teeth that lyre snakes have: recurved anterior teeth; shorter middle teeth, and large grooved fangs

Canine tooth

In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dogteeth, fangs, or eye teeth, are relatively long, pointed tooth....
at the rear of the jaw.

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Encyclopedia

Trimorphodon is a genus

Genus

Colubrid

A colubrid is a snake that is a member of the family Colubridae. It is a broad classification of snakes that includes about two thirds of all snake species on earth....
snake

Snake

Lyre

Greek language

Canine tooth

In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dogteeth, fangs, or eye teeth, are relatively long, pointed tooth....
at the rear of the jaw. There are two distinct species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
in the genus Trimorphodon, with seven subspecies

Subspecies

In biology, subspecies is the taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a species. A subspecies is a taxonomic group which is less distinct than the Common descent or species from which it originates....
.

Range

Trimorphodon biscutatus ranges throughout the southwestern United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, from Texas

Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
to California

California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
as well as into northern Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
. Trimorphodon tau ranges through most of Mexico

Mexico

Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
, in Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast....
, El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador is the smallest country in the Americas and Central America by size, and the most densely populated nation in Central America. It borders on the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras....
, Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a democratic republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras ....
, Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua , is a representative democracy republic. It is the largest state in Central America with an area of 130,000 km2, about the size of the state of New York....
, and as far south as Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east and south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. They are primarily found in rocky crevices and outcroppings.

Description

Lyre snakes usually grow to about 1m at adult size. They have a broad head with a narrow neck and large eye

Eye

Eyes are Organ that detect light, and send signals along the optic nerve to the visual system and other areas of the brain. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system....
s with vertical pupil

Pupil

The pupil is the sphere that is located in the center of the Iris of the eye and that controls the amount of light that enters the eye. It appears black because most of the light entering the pupil is absorbed by the biological tissue inside the eye....
s. They are tan

Tan (color)

Tan is a brownish, tawny color. The name is derived from tannum, or crushed oak bark, that is used in the process for tanning leather. The resulting process often produces a hide with a 'tan' hue....
or brown

Brown

Brown, when used as a general term, is a color that is a dark yellow, orange , or red, of low luminance relative to lighter or white colored objects....
in color, with distinctive black

Black

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflection light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light....
or dark brown bands that have lighter colored borders.

Behavior

Trimorphodon species are primarily nocturnal, and feed on lizard

Lizard

Lizards are a large and widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 5,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains....
s, rodent

Rodent

Rodentia is an Order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing Incisors#The_Rodent_incisor in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s and even bat

Bat

Bats are mammals in the order Chiroptera. The forelimbs of all bats are developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of sustained flight ....
s. They are a very secretive species, and excellent climbers. They live inside rock crevices and canyon walls where humans cannot easily find them, which makes research difficult. They are oviparous, laying clutches of 10 or more egg

Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
s. Hybridization between species is not unknown in the areas where their range overlaps. Their venom is not considered to be dangerous to humans.

Species

Western Lyre Snake, Trimorphodon biscutatus
Trimorphodon biscutatus

The Western Lyre Snake is a mildly venom colubrid snake native to the western United States, northern Mexico, and Central America....

Trimorphodon biscutatus biscutatus (Duméril
André Marie Constant Duméril

Andr? Marie Constant Dum?ril was a France zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Mus?um National d'Histoire Naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology....
, Bibron
Gabriel Bibron

Gabriel Bibron was a France zoologist. He classified a number of reptile species with Andr? Marie Constant Dum?ril....
& Duméril, 1854)
Sonora
Sonora

Sonora is one of the 31 States of Mexico and is located in the northwest of the country....
n Lyre Snake, Trimorphodon biscutatus lambda (Cope
Edward Drinker Cope

Edward Drinker Cope was an United States paleontology and comparative anatomy, as well as a noted herpetology and ichthyology.Born to a wealthy Society of Friends family, Cope quickly distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper in 1859....
, 1886)
Baja
Baja California Peninsula

The Baja California peninsula, in English the Lower California peninsula is a peninsula in western Mexico. It extends some 1250 km from Mexicali, Baja California, in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, in the south, separating the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California ....
California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
Lyre Snake, Trimorphodon biscutatus lyrophanes (Cope
Edward Drinker Cope

Edward Drinker Cope was an United States paleontology and comparative anatomy, as well as a noted herpetology and ichthyology.Born to a wealthy Society of Friends family, Cope quickly distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper in 1859....
, 1860)
Trimorphodon biscutatus quadruplex (Smith
Hobart M. Smith

Hobart Muir Smith is an American herpetology. He has been credited with describing several new species of North American reptile and amphibian, as well, he has been honored by having a species Tantilla named after him, Tantilla hobartsmithi....
, 1941)
Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
Lyre Snake, Trimorphodon biscutatus vilkinsonii
Trimorphodon biscutatus vilkinsonii

The Texas Lyre Snake is a subspecies of midly venomous snake opisthoglypha colubrid snake found in the United States in the Big Bend, Texas region of Texas and southern New Mexico, to northeastern Chihuahua , Mexico....
(Cope
Edward Drinker Cope

Edward Drinker Cope was an United States paleontology and comparative anatomy, as well as a noted herpetology and ichthyology.Born to a wealthy Society of Friends family, Cope quickly distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper in 1859....
, 1886)

Mexican
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
Lyre Snake, Trimorphodon tau

Trimorphodon tau latifascia (Peters
Wilhelm Peters

Wilhelm Karl Hartwich Peters was a Germany natural history and explorer.He was assistant to Johannes Peter M?ller and later curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum....
, 1869)
Trimorphodon tau tau (Cope
Edward Drinker Cope

Edward Drinker Cope was an United States paleontology and comparative anatomy, as well as a noted herpetology and ichthyology.Born to a wealthy Society of Friends family, Cope quickly distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper in 1859....
, 1870)