A database of life-history, ecological, and biogeographical traits of snakes worldwide

doi:10.17520/biods.2024476

Abstract

Abstract:

The inherent ecological and life-history characteristics of organisms are fundamental in determining species population dynamics and survive strategies, as well as their ability to adapt to environmental changes. Snakes are a group of vertebrates with a high degree of morphological specialization. However, due to the cryptic nature of snakes and their solitary behavior, life-history and ecological studies on snakes remain relatively lagged compared with other vertebrate groups, and no comprehensive trait database specifically dedicated to snakes has been available. This study collected and compiled 28 traits of 4,145 snake species by systematically consulting published snake books, peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed literature, online databases and other data resources. These traits include life-history traits (8 traits including body mass, total length, prey), ecological traits (7 traits including distribution, microhabitat, elevational distribution), and biogeographical traits (13 traits including annual mean temperature, annual mean precipitation, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)). The data completeness of these traits ranged from 42.41% to 99.90%. Compared to other datasets, this dataset has the most complete number of species, the richest traits, and offers higher completeness for some traits. As the most comprehensive and up-to-date global trait dataset for snakes, it provides valuable data support for research in ecology, biogeography and conservation biology of snakes at both global and region scales.

Database/Dataset Profile

Title	A database of life-history, ecological, and biogeographical traits of snakes worldwide
Data author(s)	Yifan Zhao, Yanping Wang
Data corresponding author	Yanping Wang (wangyanping@njnu.edu.cn)
Time range	Until September 6th, 2024
Geographical scope	Global
File size	1.7 MB
Data format	*.xlsx
Data link	https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.16435 https://www.biodiversity-science.net/fileup/1005-0094/DATA/2024476.zip
Database/Dataset composition	The dataset provided in this study consists of one subset and two descriptive files in total. It comprises 28 distinct life-history, ecological, and biogeographical traits, covering all 4,145 snake species around the world.

Key words: snakes, ecological traits, life-history traits, biogeographical traits

Zhao Yifan, Wang Yanping. A database of life-history, ecological, and biogeographical traits of snakes worldwide[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2025, 33(2): 24476.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2024476

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2025/V33/I2/24476

Figures/Tables 2

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