The Not-So-Dumb
Corn Snake
Pantherophis guttatus
Introduction
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Corn snakes are smarter than I thought
Background information on corn snake
Nomenclature
Appearance
Habitat & Food
Spatial learning experiment
Background Information
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subpylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata (lizards and snakes)
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae (non-venomous)
Genus: Pantherophis
Nomenclature
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Pantherophis guttatus
pantherophis = leopard
guttatus = speckled or spotted
Other names: Red rat snake
Appearance
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„vivid colors of reddish or orange blotches edged in
black with a grayish to orange colored background
tinged with yellow“
(http://wildwnc.org/af/cornsnake.html)
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Belly: black/white checkerboard
Habitat & Food & Characteristics
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New Jersey –Florida, East Coast – Texas and Utah
Overgrown fields, forest openings, and abandoned or seldom
used buildings, corn fields and corn cribs
Feed on rodents and thereby keep down the rodent population
Excellent climbers looking for nestling birds
Poikilotherm
Respiration via lungs
Lay eggs
Non-venomous snakes
Constricting their prey
Spatial Learning - Experiment
Holtzman et. al 1997: Spatial learning of an escape
task by young corn snakes, Elaphe guttata guttata
- 17 snakes tested with a 4-day training period
First Results from Experiment
first trial of day 1
third trial of day 4
Results from Experiment
Conclusion
Wow! – snakes are actually smart!!!
Sources
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http://wildwnc.org/af/cornsnake.html
Holtzman, David A., Terrenc3 W. Harris,
Guillermo Arangurene, Elizabeth Bostock.
1999. Spatial learning of an escape task by
young corn snakes, Elaphe guttata guttata.
Animal Behaviour, 57, 51 – 60.
images: http://www.tainoreptiles.com