biology

Ihering's snake

Ihering's snake is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ihering's snake rather than just read about it. In short: Ihering's snake (Lioheterophis iheringi) is a species of snake in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Brazil.

Key takeaways

Ihering's snake belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ihering's snake to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ihering's snake from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ihering's snake (Lioheterophis iheringi) is a species of snake in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Brazil. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Lioheterophis.

Etymology The specific name, iheringi, is in honor of German-Brazilian zoologist Rudolpho Teodoro Gaspar Wilhelm von Ihering.

Geographic range L. iheringi is found in northeastern Brazil, in the Brazilian state of Paraíba.

Habitat The preferred natural habitat of L. iheringi is shrubland.

Description L. iheringi is a small species of snake. The holotype, a female, has a total length of 36 cm (14 in), which includes a tail length of 6.5 cm (2.6 in). It has smooth dorsal scales without apical pits. There are 21 dorsal scale rows at midbody, the number of rows decreasing posteriorly. It has 151 ventrals, a divided anal plate, and 50 pairs of subcaudals.

Behavior L. iheringi is terrestrial.

Reproduction L. iheringi is oviparous.

References

Further reading Amaral A (1935). "Colecta herpetologica no nordeste do Brasil ". Memorias do Instituto Butantan 8: 185–194. (Lioheterophis, new genus, and L. iheringi, new species, p. 87). (in Portuguese). Nogueira CC et al. (32 authors) (2019). "Atlas of Brazilian Snakes: Verified Point-Locality Maps to Mitigate the Wallacean Shortfall in a Megadiverse Snake Fauna". South American Journal of Herpetology 14 (Special Issue 1): 1–274. Peters JA, Donoso-Barros R (1970). "Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata: Part II. Lizards and Amphisbaenians". Bulletin of the United States National Museum 297: v–viii, 1–293. (Lioheterophis iheringi, p. 174). (in English, with an introduction in English and Spanish). Rodrigues MT (2003). "Herpetofauna da Caatinga ". pp. 181–236. In: Leal IR, Tabarelli M, Silva JMC (editors) (2003). Ecologia e conservação da Caatinga. Recife, Brazil: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. xvii + 806 pp. (Lioheterophis iheringi, p. 222). (in Portuguese). Wallach V, Williams KL, Boundy J (2014). Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. xxviii + 1,209 pp. ISBN 978-1-4822-0847-4. (Lioheterophis iheringi, p. 385).

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ihering's snake

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ihering's snake claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ihering's snake before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ihering's snake ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ihering's snake

In research: Ihering's snake appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ihering's snake in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ihering's snake is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Dipsadinae, Dipsadinae stubs, Endemic reptiles of Brazil, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ihering's snake outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ihering's snake in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ihering's snake means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ihering's snake out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ihering's snake in simple terms?

Ihering's snake (Lioheterophis iheringi) is a species of snake in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Brazil.

Why does Ihering's snake matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ihering's snake?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ihering's snake.