Cite this article as:
Tagirova V. T., Kriskevich D. D., Kuranova V. N. Year-round habitat of snakes of the genus Elaphe (Colubridae, Reptilia) in industrial waste from a timber processing complex in the Lower Amur region. Current Studies in Herpetology, 2025, vol. 25, iss. 1, pp. 79-89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18500/1814-6090-2025-25-1-2-79-89
Year-round habitat of snakes of the genus Elaphe (Colubridae, Reptilia) in industrial waste from a timber processing complex in the Lower Amur region
We studied the colonization of the Amur Rat Snake Elaphe schrenckii and the Steppes Rat Snake E. dione of a sawdust mountain, located among the wastes a timber processing complex, during high floods of the Amur River. Since 2013, both species of snakes live in this territory year-round. For snakes, shelters from the cold are shelters in the form of “floa-ting” cracks (depth 1–1.5 m, temperature in winter up to +18°C) with a snow “roof”. Species E. schrenckii dominates in numbers on group wintering. From May to September 2023, 127 crawls of both species of snakes (104 individuals of the species E. schrenckii) were collec-ted at the control site. We assessed some phases of the life cycle of snakes during the active period (reproduction, vaporization of offspring by females, emergence of cubs). Morphological characters of males and females (L., L.cd., L./L.cd., Sq., Ventr., S.cd., A, Lab., Temp.) were investigated from preserved molt skins of E. schrenckii and E. dione. There were no significant differences between the results obtained in this study and those reported for individuals from other parts of the species' ranges. Measures for the conservation of the Amur Rat Snake listed in the Red Book of the Khabarovsk Krai, were discussed and proposed.
Ananjeva N. B., Munkhbayar Kh., Orlov N. L., Orlova V. F., Semyonov D. V., Terbish Kh. Amphibians and Reptiles of Mongolia. Reptiles. Moscow, KMK Scientific Press Ltd., 1997. 416 p. (in Russian).
Ananjeva N. B., Borkin L. J., Darevsky I. S., Orlov N. L. Zemnovodnye i presmykayushchiesya. Ehntsiklopediya prirody Rossii [Amphibians and Reptiles. Encyclopedia of Nature of Russia]. Moscow, ABF, 1998. 576 p. (in Russian).
Bakiev A. Patterned runner Elaphe dione (Pallas, 1773). In: Zmei Volzhsko-Kamskogo kraya [Snakes of the Volga-Kama Region]. Samara, Samara Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ., 2004, pp. 45–49 (in Russian).
Bannikov A. G., Darevsky I. S., Ishchenko V. G., Rustamov A. K., Shcherbak N. N. Opredelitel' zemnovodnykh i presmykayushchikhsya fauny SSSR [A Guide of Amphibians and Reptiles of Fauna of USSR]. Moscow, Prosveshchenie, 1977. 415 p. (in Russian).
Dunaev E. A., Orlova V. F. Raznoobrazie zmei (po materialam ehkspozitsii Zoologicheskogo muzeya MGU) [Diversity of Snakes (based on materials from the exhibition of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University)]. Moscow, Moscow University Press, 2003. 376 pp. (in Russian)
Dunaev E. A., Orlova V. F. Zmei. Vidy fauny Rossii: Atlas-opredelitel' [Snakes of the Russian Fauna. Field Guide]. Moscow, Fiton XXI, 2014. 120 p. (in Russian).
Emelianov A. A. Snakes of the Far Eastern District. Memoirs of the Vladivostok Section of the Russian State Geographical Society, 1929, vol. 3, iss. 1, pp. 3 –208 (in Russian).
Emelianov A. A. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Soviet Far East. Vladivostok, Dalnauka, 2018. 416 p. (in Russian).
Ivanter E. V., Korosov A. V. Vvedeniye v kolichestvennuyu biologiyu [Introduction to Quantitative Biology]. Petrozavodsk, Petrozavodsk State University Publ., 2011. 302 p. (in Russian).
History “Innokentyevka village”. Khabarovsk, 2024. Available at: https://innokentevka.khabkrai.ru/O-poselenii/Istoriya/ (accessed July 6, 2024).
Korotkov Yu. M. Terrestrial Reptiles of the Far East of USSR. Vladivostok, Dal'nevostochnoe knizhnoe izdatel'stvo, 1985. 136 p. (in Russian).
Kuzmin S. L., Semenov D. V. Conspect of the Fauna of Amphibians and Reptiles of Russia. Moscow, KMK Scientific Press Ltd., 2006. 139 p. (in Russian).
Lazareva O.G. The direction of changes in phallidosis of snakes of the temperate zone in connection with the movement to northern latitudes: The patterned snake Elaphe dione. Current Problems of Herpetology and To-xicology, 2003, iss. 6, рp. 52–63 (in Russian).
Popovskaya S. P. The first sheddings in various species of snakes of Colubridae. The Problems of Herpetology: Proceedings of the 1th Meeting of the Nikolsky Herpetological Society. Pushchino, Moscow, Moscow University Press, 2001, pp. 241–242 (in Russian).
Tagirova V. T. Zhizn' priamurskikh amfibiy i reptiliy. Polevyye issledovaniya dal'nevostochnogo zoologa [Life of Amur Amphibians and Reptiles. Field Research of a Far Eastern Zoologist]. Khabarovsk, Izdatel'skiy Dom “Priamurskiye vedomosti”, 2009. 208 p. (in Russian).
Tagirova V. T. The amur snake Elaphe schrenckii (Strauch, 1873). Krasnaya kniga Khabarovskogo kraya: Redkiye i nakhodyashchiyesya pod ugrozoy ischeznove-niya vidy rasteniy, gribov i zhivotnyk [Red Data Book of the Khabarovsk Territory. Rare and Endangered Species of Plants, Fungi and Animals]. Voronezh, MIR, 2019, pp. 488 (in Russian).
Terentyev P. V., Chernov S. А. Opredelitel presmykayushhihsya i zemnovodnykh [Definitel of Reptiles and Amphibians]. Мoscow, Sovetskaya nauka, 1949. 340 p. (in Russian).
Bakken G., Tillman F., O'Keefe J. Methods for assessing artificial thermal refuges: Spatiotemporal analysis more informative than averages. Journal of Thermal Biology, 2022, vol. 105, article no. 103150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2021.103150
Bonnet X., Naulleau G., Shine R. The dangers of leaving home: Dispersal and mortality in snakes. Biological Conservation, 1999, vol. 89, iss. 1, pp. 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(98)00140-2
Lelièvre H., Blouin-Demers G., Bonnet X., Lourdais O. Thermal benefits of artificial shelters in snakes: A radiotelemetric study of two sympatric colubrids. Journal of Thermal Biology, 2010, vol. 35, iss. 7, pp. 324–331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2010.06.011
Liberman Y.-R., Ben-Ami F., Meiri S. Artificial cover objects as a tool for the survey and corservation of herpetofauna. Biodiversity and Conservation, 2024, vol. 33, iss. 5, pp. 1575–1590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-024-02840-x
