Steppe rat snake explained

Elaphe dione, commonly known as Dione's rat snake, the steppe rat snake, or the steppes rat snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to Asia and Eastern Europe. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid. A large specimen from Putyatin Island measured up to in length.^[1]

Etymology

The specific name, dione, refers to the Greek mythological figure Dione who was the mother of Aphrodite.^[2]

Habitat

E. dione is found in eastern Ukraine, southern and southeastern Russia, Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia, parts of China, and Korea. It is found in a wide variety of habitats including forest, shrubland, grassland, rocky areas, desert, freshwater wetlands, and disturbed areas, at altitudes from sea level to .

Behavior

An adult female mates with two or more males, sometimes copulating with two males at the same time.^[3] E. dione is oviparous, and adult females lay a clutch of 3–15 eggs in July or August, though some can lay a clutch of up to 24 eggs.^[4]

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I-XX. (Coluber dione, pp. 44–45).
• Pallas PS (1773). Reise durch verschiedenen Provinzen des Russischen Reichs, Zweiter Theil. [=Travels through different provinces of the Russian Empire, Volume 2]. Saint Petersburg: Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 744 pp. (Coluber dione, new species, p. 717). (in German and Latin).
• Shannon FA (1956). "The Reptiles and Amphibians of Korea". Herpetologica 12 (1): 22–49.
• Stejneger L (1907). Herpetology of Japan and Adjacent Territory. United States National Museum Bulletin 58. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. xx + 577 pp. (Elaphe dione, new combination, pp. 315–318, Figure 272).

Notes and References

1. Ratnikov, V.. 2022. Comparative Osteology of Two Far Eastern Species of Ratsnakes (Serpentes: Colubridae), Elaphe dione (Pallas, 1773) and E. schrenckii (Strauch, 1873), for the Purpose of Palaeontological Studies. Asian Herpetological Research. 13. 1. 1–22. 10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.210021.
2. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]
3. M.S.. Do. J.H.. Choi. H.-T.. Lee. S.-C.. Lee. 2004. Mating System and Behavior of Steppe Rat Snake (Elaphe dione) in South Korea. Russian Journal of Herpetology. 31. 1. 56–59. 10.30906/1026-2296-2024-31-1-56-59.
4. Nikita E.. Pokhilyuk. 2022. Notes on Captive Breeding of Three Snake Species (Colubridae) from the Russian Far East. Jordan Journal of Natural History. 9. 1. 19–23.