Species Hierarchy
Kingdom ANIMAL (ANIMALIA)
Phylum BACKBONED ANIMALS (CHORDATA)
Class REPTILES (REPTILIA)
Order LIZARDS AND SNAKES (SQUAMATA)
Family SNAKES (COLUBRIDAE)
SubFamily SNAKES - REAR FANG - NORTH AMERICA (REAR FANGED SNAKES NEARCTIC)
Common name: SNAKE - FLAT HEADED
Scentific name: TANTILLA GRACILIS

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Origin: MISSOURI, USA

Species Info:

This lifeform is found in the Great Plains of North America.

Flat headed snake (Tantilla gracilis) is found from extreme southern Illinois, southern Missouri, eastern Kansas south through eastern Oklahoma south through eastern Texas to Mexico. There are also some records from Mexico. This tiny snake is usually between seven and eight inches long.

Tantilla genus (Flat head and black head snakes) contains about sixty species of very small and tiny snakes found from North America south to Argentina.

Family Colubridae contains the vast majority (70% of all snakes) of the world's species of snakes. The number is estimated to be over 1,850 and possibly up to 2,500.

Lizards and Snakes (Squamata Order) share many common characteristics and consequently they are grouped in a single order. There are greater differences between some groups of lizards than there are between other groups of lizards and snakes. The same is true of snakes. Lizards and snakes share a common skull shape.

Reptiles (Class Reptilia) are an ancient group of scaled  chordates. These scales may be permanently joined, as in the  turtles, or flexible, as in the snakes. Reptiles are land-based. Their eggs are laid on land and the young are air breathing.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

 

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SNAKE - EASTERN GARTER
THAMNOPHIS SIRTALIS SIRTALIS
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BLACK HEADED - SNAKE
TANTILLA EISENI
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SNAKE - PLAINS BLACK HEADED
TANTILLA NIGRICEPS NIGRICEPS
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RHADINAEA KINKELINI
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