---
title: "What the sources say about the Corn Snake | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "39 claims from the Corn Snake profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Corn Snake (*Pantherophis guttatus*)

> 39 claims from the Corn Snake profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Corn Snake](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/corn-snake/)

## Echternacht & Hammerson (2016). Pantherophis guttatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T63863A71740603.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-3.rlts.t63863a71740603.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The Red List rates the species Least Concern. | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: GBIF copy of the Red List; taxon id 63863 matches the DOI.) |
| The IUCN Red List rated the corn snake Least Concern in its 2016 assessment. | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |

## Eastern corn snake. Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/corn-snake

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The most commonly bred pet snake | they are the most commonly bred snake species in the pet industry |
| Woodlands, rocky hillsides, meadows and barns in the eastern United States | These snakes inhabit wooded groves, rocky hillsides, meadowlands, woodlots, rocky open areas, tropical hammocks, barns and abandoned buildings. |
| most abundant in Florida and the southeast | They are most abundant in Florida and other southeastern states. |
| Mice, rats, birds and bats; hatchlings eat lizards and tree frogs | Young hatchlings eat lizards and tree frogs, while adults feed on larger prey, such as mice, rats, birds and bats. |
| Squeezes its prey until it is subdued, then swallows it whole | then quickly coil themselves around their meal, squeezing tightly until the prey is subdued. Finally, they swallow their food whole |
| The corn snake is a constrictor, a snake that wraps around its prey and squeezes. | These constrictors bite their prey to get a firm grip |
| It bites its prey to get a firm grip, then quickly coils around its meal and squeezes tightly until the prey is subdued. Then it swallows the food whole, usually headfirst. | These constrictors bite their prey to get a firm grip, then quickly coil themselves around their meal, squeezing tightly until the prey is subdued. Finally, they swallow their food whole, usually headfirst. |
| Corn snakes have also been seen swallowing small prey alive. | Corn snakes have also been observed swallowing small prey alive. |
| Hatchlings eat lizards and tree frogs. Adults go for larger prey such as mice, rats, birds and bats. | Young hatchlings eat lizards and tree frogs, while adults feed on larger prey, such as mice, rats, birds and bats. |
| Corn snakes are about 61 to 182 centimeters (24 to 72 inches) long. | Corn snakes are approximately 61 to 182 centimeters (24 to 72 inches) long. |
| Hatchlings measure 25 to 38 centimeters. | hatchlings are 25 to 38 centimeters (10 to 15 inches) long |
| their lifespan is shorter in the wild | but their lifespan is shorter in the wild |
| Corn snakes live in the eastern United States, from southern New Jersey to Florida, into Louisiana and parts of Kentucky | Corn snakes are found in the eastern United States from southern New Jersey to Florida, into Louisiana and parts of Kentucky. |
| They inhabit wooded groves, rocky hillsides, meadowlands, barns and abandoned buildings. | These snakes inhabit wooded groves, rocky hillsides, meadowlands, woodlots, rocky open areas, tropical hammocks, barns and abandoned buildings. |
| They are secretive and spend most of their time underground in rodent burrows, though they also climb trees. | However, they are very secretive and spend most of their time underground prowling through rodent burrows. (note: Climbing: 'Corn snakes readily climb trees and enter abandoned buildings in search of prey' (same section).) |
| Corn snakes are sometimes mistaken for the venomous copperhead and killed. | corn snakes are sometimes mistaken for the venomous copperhead snake and killed as a result |
| Corn snakes are the most commonly bred snake species in the pet industry | they are the most commonly bred snake species in the pet industry |
| The Smithsonian's National Zoo adds that they live for a shorter time in the wild. | but their lifespan is shorter in the wild |
| The National Zoo gives a range of about 61 to 182 centimeters (24 to 72 inches) long. | Corn snakes are approximately 61 to 182 centimeters (24 to 72 inches) long. |
| Hatchlings start out at 25 to 38 centimeters. | hatchlings are 25 to 38 centimeters (10 to 15 inches) long |
| The National Zoo notes that, locally, habitat destruction can affect them. | On a local scale, corn snakes can be impacted by habitat destruction. |
| They are constrictors, coiling around prey and squeezing until it is subdued. | then quickly coil themselves around their meal, squeezing tightly until the prey is subdued |
| A corn snake coils around its prey and squeezes tightly until the prey is subdued | then quickly coil themselves around their meal, squeezing tightly until the prey is subdued |

## Pantherophis guttatus (red corn snake). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Pantherophis_guttatus/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Corn snakes have rather poor eyesight and depend mainly on smell. | Corn snakes have rather poor eyesight and depend mainly on olfaction to perceive their |
| Their tongue works with the Jacobson's organ in the roof of the mouth to pick up scent molecules, and they can tell which direction the scent came from. | their tongues, in conjunction with the Jacobson's organ in the roof of the mouth, detect scent molecules in the surrounding environment. (note: Direction clause: 'corn snakes can also determine the direction from which the molecules were released' (same passage).) |
| They can also feel ground vibrations through their bodies, which helps them find small or hidden prey. | Corn snakes can also feel ground vibrations throughout their body, which are used to locate small or otherwise hidden prey or predators. |
| No. Animal Diversity Web describes corn snakes as mild-tempered and non-venomous. | Corn snakes are mild-tempered, non-venomous snakes. |

## AnAge entry for Elaphe guttata. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Build 15, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Elaphe_guttata

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| An average adult weighs about 900 grams. | Adult weight 900 g |
| In captivity, corn snakes have been reported to live up to 32.3 years | These animals have been reported to live up to 32.3 years in captivity |
| AnAge, a database of animal lifespans, lists corn snakes as reported to live up to 32.3 years in captivity. | These animals have been reported to live up to 32.3 years in captivity |

## Gaete & Tucker (2013). Organized Emergence of Multiple-Generations of Teeth in Snakes Is Dysregulated by Activation of Wnt/Beta-Catenin Signalling. PLoS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074484

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Corn snakes are polyphyodonts, animals that can regenerate their teeth constantly. | Snakes and other polyphyodonts have the capacity to regenerate their teeth constantly (note: The study's model animal is the corn snake (its Introduction: 'in the polyphodont corn snake'); the sentence is about snakes and other polyphyodonts, here applied to the species the paper used.) |

## Ullate-Agote et al. (2020). Genome mapping of a LYST mutation in corn snakes indicates that vertebrate chromatophore vesicles are lysosome-related organelles. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2003724117

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The lavender morph has gray blotches on a pink background, instead of red blotches on orange. | The lavender color morph in corn snakes is characterized by gray, rather than red, blotches on a pink, instead of orange, background. |
| Researchers traced it to a single change in the LYST gene that cuts the protein short | a single nucleotide polymorphism introducing a premature stop codon in the lysosomal trafficking regulator gene ( LYST ) that shortens the corresponding protein by 603 amino acids |
| the colour-making compartments in red and yellow skin cells and in light-reflecting skin cells are lysosome-related organelles | Our work provides evidence characterizing xanthosomes in xanthophores and iridosomes in iridophores as lysosome-related organelles. (note: Abstract: xanthophores are red and yellow, iridophores light-reflecting (same abstract).) |

## Saenko et al. (2015). Amelanism in the corn snake is associated with the insertion of an LTR-retrotransposon in the OCA2 gene. Scientific Reports.

https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17118

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a lab model for how reptiles get their colours | The corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) is a new model species particularly appropriate for investigating the processes generating colours in reptiles |
| One team calls the corn snake a new model species for investigating how reptiles get their colours, because numerous colour and pattern mutants have been isolated in the last five decades. | is a new model species particularly appropriate for investigating the processes generating colours in reptiles because numerous colour and pattern mutants have been isolated in the last five decades |
| The amelanistic morph, which lacks the dark pigment melanin, shows white borders instead of black ones around an otherwise normal pattern of orange saddles. | As amelanistic snakes exhibit white, instead of black, borders around an otherwise normal pattern of dorsal orange saddles and lateral blotches (note: 'lacks the dark pigment melanin': abstract says melanocytes lacking melanin.) |