....guardian evolution, distribution & more...

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: Agreed, and I am aware indys & cobras have been compared, (partic. re: intelligence) before. I was thinking colubrid equiv. & note Chris mentions a Ptya, of which I know nothing (wish he'd elaborate...). : I note (now that i looked...) that the sea floor from S. America thru the Antilles to Cuba & beyond to Florida (& the afore mentioned islas), is less than 300' deep (large areas are less than 100') & thus was exposed during the last Ice Age (10-12000 yrs ago). Thus the guardians recently likely occupied a much larger contiguous range [& one day they will again :)]. heretofore; I would have thought they dispersed via indians (they traded lots of cool critters) &/or flood outwash debris being blown out to sea. Its interesting too, that the guardians actually get real close to us here in Az.; they are reported within 250 mi. of our border :) I hear they are a deep brown. One day I'll fotog one :) : With the new DNA techniques of late...I wonder if anyone has or is reviewing the relationship between Drymarchon & Coluber (which indys also used to be classified in...)... : Posted by Dean Alessandrini on January 26, 2002 at 19:01:35: : In Reply to: per Freds req....guardian evolution, distribution & more... posted by regalringneck on January 26, 2002 at 16:18:27: : I think the old world snakes that fill the Drymarchon niche are cobras. I've worked with cobras in a past life at a zoo and they are very indigolike. : Other than the one big difference (venom) they are simliar in size, habits, dietary preferences (they eat anything). They are active, sight hunters, and even kind of look like Drymarchon. : As the the islands, easterns live (or have lived) on the Florida keys and done well (until wiped out by urba sprawl) not sure about Cuba...that's news to me. Don't know which sub would be there... : There is an island sub (margaritae) from a margaritae island off the coast of Venesuela, but they are extemely rare. : Name: regalringneck : E-Mail: : Subject: per Freds req....guardian evolution, distribution & more... : Body of Message: : As background....forest guardian was explained to us a while back (cant remember who tho...) as the literal translation of drymarchon...Great name IMO! : I am pondering that selection pressures & niche exploitation resulted in a colubrid (modern snake) giving up constriction (constriction is an ancient behavior; ex. boidae), presumably for speed/agility. The whipsnakes & the Coluber racers have taken a similar evolutionary path. Not many other top predator colubrids diverted with them from constriction, yet I believe many of these; Pituophis/L. getulus/Arizona/& Elaphe which we would expect to do well in the many habitats in the tropics...disappear...about where the super generalist drymarchons become a dominant species.... : Is there an eco-equivalent for Drymarchon in the Old World tropics? : Are there indigos on Bermuda? or the Bahamas? I have heard Cuba has a very florida-like indigo... : Cheers, john gunn : Added on Date: 01/26/02

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