biology

Pituophis lineaticollis

Pituophis lineaticollis 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 Pituophis lineaticollis rather than just read about it. In short: Pituophis lineaticollis, commonly known as the Middle American gopher snake or the cincuate bull snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to Guatemala and southeastern Mexico.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Pituophis lineaticollis, commonly known as the Middle American gopher snake or the cincuate bull snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to Guatemala and southeastern Mexico. There are two recognized subspecies.

Geographic range P. lineaticollis is found in Guatemala and in the Mexican states of Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacán, Morelos, Oaxaca, and Querétaro.

Habitat The preferred natural habitat of P. lineaticollis is forest, at altitudes of 800–2,500 m (2,600–8,200 ft).

Description

The longest specimen of P. lineaticollis measured by Boulenger in 1894 had a total length of 1.5 m (4.9 ft), which included a tail 23 cm (9.1 in) long.

Reproduction P. lineaticollis is oviparous.

Subspecies Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.

Pituophis lineaticollis gibsoni Stuart, 1954 Pituophis lineaticollis lineaticollis (Cope, 1861)

Etymology The genus name Pituophis is a Latinized modern scientific Greek compound Πιτυόφις : "pine snake"; from Ancient Greek: πίτυς (pítus, "pine"), and Ancient Greek: ὄφις (óphis, "snake"). The subspecific name, gibsoni, is in honor of Colvin A. Gibson (born 1918), a physician who specialized in tropical medicine.

References

Further reading Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I–XX. (Coluber lineaticollis, pp. 64–65). Cope ED (1861). "Contributions to the Ophiology of Lower California, Mexico and Central America". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia [13]: 292–306. (Arizona lineaticollis, new species, pp. 300–301). Heimes P (2016). Snakes of Mexico: Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. I. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Chimaira. 572 pp. ISBN 9783899731002. Stuart LC (1954). "Descriptions of Some New Amphibians and Reptiles from Guatemala". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 67: 159–178. (Pituophis deppei gibsoni, new subspecies, pp. 172–174).

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pituophis lineaticollis

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pituophis lineaticollis 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 Pituophis lineaticollis 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 Pituophis lineaticollis 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 Pituophis lineaticollis

In research: Pituophis lineaticollis 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 Pituophis lineaticollis 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: Pituophis lineaticollis is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics IUCN Red List least concern species, Pituophis, Reptiles described in 1861, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pituophis lineaticollis 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 Pituophis lineaticollis in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pituophis lineaticollis 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 Pituophis lineaticollis out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pituophis lineaticollis in simple terms?

Why does Pituophis lineaticollis 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 Pituophis lineaticollis?

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 Pituophis lineaticollis.