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Zamenis longissimus (LAURENTI, 1768)

IUCN Red List - Zamenis longissimus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Aesculapean Snake
G: Äskulapnatter
Croatian: bjelica
Russian: Эскулапов полоз
Italian: saettone comune 
SynonymNatrix longissima LAURENTI 1768: 74
Coluber aesculapi LACEPEDE 1789
Elaphis Aesculapii — DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 278
Coluber esculapii — BOETTGER 1889: 271
Coluber esculapii — SCLATER 1891: 33
Coluber longissimus — BOULENGER 1894: 52
Coluber Aesculapii — ZANG 1905
Coluber longissimus — BOULENGER 1913
Elaphe longissima — ENGELMANN et al 1993
Elaphe longissima — SCHULZ 1996
Elaphe longissima — STOEV 2000
Zamenis longissimus — UTIGER et al. 2002
Zamenis longissimus — SCHLÜTER 2006
Zamenis longissima — VENCHI & SINDACO 2006
Zamenis longissimus — KWET 2007
Zamenis longissimus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 808 
DistributionNW Spain, France, Italy, S Switzerland, Andorra,
Germany (Taunus, Neckar river, Passau, Salzach-river, Berchtesgaden), SE Poland,
S Austria (except Tirol and Vorarlberg),
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, N Turkey, Greece (incl. Corfu = Corfou),
Croatia (including some Adriatic islands), Slovenia, Bosnia, Hercegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia, S Slovakia,
Albania, S Czech Republic, Republic of Georgia, NW Iran,
S Russia: south to Kuban river, SW Ukraine, S Moldova, Azerbaijan

Introduced to the United Kingdom (Wales) [fide arc-trust.org]

Type locality: Austria (Laurenti, 1768); Austria, Vienna (Mertens & Müller, 1928)  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesType: nondesignated, present location unknown (fide V. Wallach, pers. comm.) 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (2249 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentElaphe longissima romana has been elevated to species status by Lenk & Wüster 1999 and is now called E. lineata.

Type species: Coluber aesculapi LACEPEDE 1789 is the type species of the genus Zamenis WAGLER 1830 (fide WILLIAMS & WALLACH 1989: 161).

Synonymy: Kaiser et al. 2013 considered the generic name Richardwellsus Hoser 2012 invalid and rejected its use instead of Zamenis.

Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Distribution: Not in Poland fide Geniez 2018, Salvi et al. 2018, but recorded from isolated localities there fide Kurek et al. 2017. For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013. 
EtymologyNamed after the length of this species which is unusually large for European snakes.

The genus was named after the Greek “za” = great, and “menos” = strength. 
References
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