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Farancia
Rainbow Snake taken in Southern Georgia in June 2003 2.jpg
Farancia erytrogramma
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Dipsadinae
Genus: Farancia
Gray, 1842

Farancia is a genus of colubrid snakes. It consists of two species, one commonly referred to as the rainbow snake (F. erytrogramma) and the other commonly referred to as the mud snake (F. abacura). Both species are native to the southeastern United States.

Description

Adult specimens of Farancia species are usually to 36-54 inches (92–137 cm) in total length (including tail). They are usually dark brown or black dorsally, with a brightly colored underside that is red or orange. Rainbow snakes exhibit red striping down their backs.

The body of Farancia species is cylindrical, robust, and muscular. The smooth, shiny, and iridescent dorsal scales are arranged in 19 rows at midbody. The tail is short, ending in a spine.

Behaviour

Snakes of the genus Farancia are semiaquatic, living in the muddy edges of slow moving, permanent water sources.

Diet

The diet of Farancia species consists primarily of amphiumas, eels, and sirens.

Reproduction

In Farancia breeding occurs in early spring, and eggs are laid in a burrow near the water in early summer. The clutch incubates between 8–12 weeks, and hatches in mid-autumn.

Species and subspecies

  • Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company. xi + 378 pp. ISBN: 0-7167-0020-4. (Genus Farancia, p. 323).
  • Gray JE (1842). "Monographic Synopsis of the Water Snakes, or the Family HYDRIDÆ". Zoological Miscellany [2]: 59-68. (Farancia, new genus, p. 68).
  • Genus Farancia at The Reptile Database

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Farancia para niños

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