International Journal of Molecular Zoology, 2025, Vol.15, No.2, 78-89 http://animalscipublisher.com/index.php/ijmz 78 Feature Review Open Access Global Distribution Patterns of Snakes, Their Historical Climatic Drivers Hongbo Liang 1, QibinXu2 1 Institute of Life Sciences, Jiyang Colloge of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China 2 Animal Science Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China Corresponding author: qibin.xu@cuixi.org International Journal of Molecular Zoology, 2025, Vol.15, No.2 doi: 10.5376/ijmz.2025.15.0009 Received: 13 Feb., 2025 Accepted: 15 Mar., 2025 Published: 10 Apr., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Liang and Xu, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Liang H.B., and Xu Q.B., 2025, Global distribution patterns of snakes, their historical climatic drivers, International Journal of Molecular Zoology, 15(2): 78-89 (doi: 10.5376/ijmz.2025.15.0009) Abstract This study analyzed the distribution of snakes around the world. Most snakes live in tropical regions, while the number of snake populations in temperate and polar regions is relatively small. Past climate change has had a significant impact on the species types, migration routes and distribution ranges of snakes. The current climate conditions determine their main living areas and gathering places. Ecological research shows that the ability of species to adapt to the environment, the efficiency of energy utilization, and whether the climate is stable are the key reasons for their different distributions. The warming climate brought about by human activities, the division of habitats and the invasion of alien species have accelerated the decline of snake species, forcing some snakes to move to higher latitudes or altitudes, which has greatly increased their risk of extinction. With the development of methods such as distribution models and genetic testing, coupled with the combined use of climate data and genetic data, people's understanding of this issue is constantly deepening. The problem of insufficient relevant data in tropical regions is still very prominent. Understanding the past climate conditions and conducting research in combination with the current climate is of great significance for predicting the future distribution areas of snakes, formulating protection measures, and maintaining their constantly changing species types. Keywords Snake distribution; Historical climate change; Biodiversity gradients; Species distribution models (SDMs); Conservation biology 1 Introduction Snakes are cold-blooded vertebrates that can survive on land and in water all over the world, from tropical rainforests and arid deserts to temperate regions, and even in some subarctic areas. The physiological activities of snakes depend on external temperature, which affects their activity patterns, distribution areas and interactions with other organisms. Snakes are both predators and prey. They play an important role in regulating the numbers of small mammals, birds, amphibians and invertebrates, and help maintain ecosystem stability and promote biodiversity development (Guedes et al., 2017; Cabral et al., 2022). The emergence or decline of snakes can have a chain effect on the operation of the food web and ecosystems (Jesus et al., 2023; Martinez et al., 2024). The distribution of snakes around the world is not formed randomly, but is the result of the combined action of evolutionary history, ecological adaptation and past climate change. Although some snake species have exceptions due to special evolutionary processes or habitat environments, most snake species still show obvious latitude distribution patterns, i.e. the species are the most abundant in tropical regions (Terribile et al., 2009; Guedes et al., 2017; Cabral et al., 2022). Historically, tropical and subtropical regions with long-term climate stability often nurtured more endemic species, while in areas with high climate fluctuations, the number of species is relatively small, but these species are more unique in evolution. Past climatic events, such as long-term changes in ice age cycles, temperature and precipitation, have promoted the expansion and contraction of snake distribution ranges and promoted the formation of new species, thus shaping the current diversified distribution pattern (Da Motta Portillo et al., 2021; Da Motta Portillo et al., 2023). Understanding these distribution patterns is of great significance for explaining the current biodiversity status and predicting the impact of future climate change (Wu, 2015; Biber et al., 2023; Martinez et al., 2024).
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