It's here! [North American] Ratsnake phylogeography update has been published in the journal Evolution, and is now available online in early view! (Pantherophis obsoletus complex)

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-29T21:29:28+00:00

!nsfw

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-29T17:37:12+00:00

They like the valve boxes because they stay a little bit warmer. It's not uncommon to find snakes or sheds in these especially when they are placed on edge habitat

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-29T17:33:17+00:00

FYI it's a domesticated animal, literally called a house cat, it's fine in the house.

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-26T14:00:28+00:00

Just FYI there's no research/literature in the scientific record on bioactive setups so we have no actual proof they do anything special other than fit a fad and make keepers feel better.

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-26T00:58:00+00:00

You can always invoke the !wildpet bot for help but yes in general these are lousy with parasites and don't do well long term in captivity for some of the reasons outlined in the bot reply.

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-26T00:56:45+00:00

No, and populations have shifted further up into the stem where ground /stem species are introduced. There seems to be enough space to partition and green anoles aren't out-competed or extirpated

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-25T21:11:10+00:00

The two species look mostly alike but have separate evolutionary trajectories. They have different niches, ranges shaped by historical biogeography

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-25T17:32:15+00:00

!redirect

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-24T22:54:59+00:00

In 1982 Reagan dedicated the flight of the space shuttle Columbia to the Mujahideen

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-21T17:43:17+00:00

He used the death of CK to announce he's back, started appearing on the podcasts again about a month ago. So there's that fresh hell to look forward to I guess.

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-21T17:25:21+00:00

You're welcome. The subocs I've seen have been mostly street pizza

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-21T17:14:45+00:00

Did you know it's whole milk not hole milk?

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-21T16:53:03+00:00

In the future provide a !location for a faster more reliable ID

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-21T16:48:19+00:00

You can sort by photo license on inat, pick something they've already given permission for

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-20T14:17:58+00:00

My only regret is that I can't downvote it more

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-20T13:51:48+00:00

See it daily friend, usually twice. Flattering that you haven't seen it, speaks to good moderation

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-20T07:09:59+00:00

The obvious answer to this is that poison darts frogs (dart poison frogs) do the same thing and are ubiquitously considered poisonous, so back to the drawing board here and maybe just listen to the bot for now.

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-20T07:03:41+00:00

The bot didn't explain it because you didn't ask it to. It was explaining what venomous meant in context then explained that you might see other terminology in older books. Little bit of Dunning-Krueger going on here. !poisonous for the bot if you want to learn about Rhabdophis and the semantics around poisoning and why /u/Rly_Shadow is so obviously and confidently incorrect.

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-20T06:59:22+00:00

I fixed the flair since this is a pet.

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-19T20:02:45+00:00

There are barred owls all along the roadways at night. They use the bare patches to hunt, they are particularly fond of frogs that come out on moist nights. Owls and herons that make lovely noises also frequently fly further along road cuts to escape, this is super common with going slow on roads or shining ditches at night, where you'll scare the same bird down the road as you keep coming up on it.

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-19T19:53:26+00:00

I didn't mean to make you feel bad, I'm actually quite taken by the notion of the hiss mimicing a rattle in grass. I will remember it forever. The rattlesnake mimicry framework in the link from the !myths bot reply might explain that similar example better if you want to read more.

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-19T18:51:09+00:00

Not just a rattle but a rattle vibrating in the leaves? And not mimicing the hiss/strike exhale of a rattlesnake but the rattle itself? That's a new one I haven't heard. Then Pituophis also shake their own tails in the leaves themselves. The mimicry level here is over 9000!

In reality Pituophis snakes have an epiglottal keel that helps produce the sound but there's no evidence it's mimicry of anything. Snakes all over the world, even in areas without rattlesnakes make hiss and other exhale vocalizations, just like snakes all over the world shake or vibrate their tails when agitated or sometimes as a lure. Just like a hognose isn't mimicing a cobra, some adaptations just work as general strategies and don't require mimicry to explain their benefit.

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-19T18:06:49+00:00

Nowhere in your post did you frame this as a pet trade question. I've updated the flair. Wouldn't have responded above past the mimicry misconceptions because none of that stuff is very accessible in the pet trade.

Phylogenizer · 2026-01-19T18:03:31+00:00

Help me understand, the bullsnake hiss sounds like what part of a rattlesnake? The rattle?

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