Species Hierarchy
Kingdom ANIMAL (ANIMALIA)
Phylum BACKBONED ANIMALS (CHORDATA)
Class REPTILES (REPTILIA)
Order LIZARDS AND SNAKES (SQUAMATA)
Family SNAKES (COLUBRIDAE)
SubFamily SNAKES - COLUBRIDS - NORTH AMERICA (COLUBRIDAE - NEARCTIC)
Common name: SNAKE - DIAMOND BACK WATER
Scentific name: NERODIA RHOMBIFERA

HABITAT VIEW
Location: LOUISIANA

Species Info:

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

Diamond back water snake (Nerodia rhombifera) is found from southeastern Illinois south to Alabama and south to Oklahoma and eastern Texas.

Nerodia genus ( water snakes) contains seven species of large snakes native to the New World. This genus is closely allied to the Natrix genus of Old World water snakes.

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.

 

Search Region:
World
Species Range:
Click to enlarge
Photos
(Click on an image below to display at left)

HABITAT VIEW

 


Quick Jump:
Click to jump to
KING SNAKE - GRAY BANDED
LAMPROPELTIS MEXICANA
Backward 10 species
Click to jump to
SNAKE - BANDED WATER
NERODIA FASCIATA FASCIATA
Backward 1 species
Click to jump to
SNAKE - NORTHERN WATER
NERODIA SIPEDON SIPEDON
Forward 1 species
Click to jump to
SNAKE - WESTERN TERRESTRIAL GARTER
THAMNOPHIS ELEGANS VAGRANS
Forward 10 species