ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF COLUBRID SNAKES OF THE MIDDLE VOLGA REGION.
MESSAGE 2. AGE CHANGES OF THE BODY PROPORTIONS 

Klenina Anastasiya Aleksandrovna, Candidate of biological sciences, junior researcher, herpetology and toxinology laboratory, Institute of Ecology of the Volga basin of RAS (10 Komzina street, Togliatty, Russia), E-mail: colubrida@yandex.ru
Bakiev Andrey Gennad'evich, Candidate of biological sciences, senior researcher, herpetology and toxinology laboratory, Institute of Ecology of the Volga basin of RAS (10 Komzina street, Togliatty, Russia), E-mail: herpetology@list.ru 

598.115.31:591.4(470.4) 

DOI

10.21685/2307-9150-2019-2-9 

Background. The study is aimed at studying patterns of age-related changes in the proportions of the body of colubrid snakes (the family Colubridae) living in the Middle Volga region – Natrix natrix, N. tessellata, Coronella austriaca, Elaphe dione.
Materials and methods. Animals were caught in 2009–2014. In snakes caught in nature and born in captivity by these snakes, the generally accepted signs of external morphology were taken into account.
Results. Values of the index L.corp./L.cd. (the quotient from dividing the length of the body without a tail by the length of the tail) in males and females of four species with an increase in the linear dimensions of the snakes change in one sequence. After birth, an increase in the index L.corp./L.cd. With further growth of snakes, the index decreases, which is probably due to puberty. Then the index increases again.
Conclusions. In males and females of four species of colubrid snakes in the Middle Volga, age-related changes in body proportions have the same sequence. The revealed patterns may be characteristic of other snake species, which requires additional research. 

Key words

Colubridae, Natrix natrix, Natrix tessellata, Coronella austriaca, Elaphe dione, index L.corp./L.cd 

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