Agkistrodon contortrix
(Linnaeus, 1766) · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Agkistrodon contortrix's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation15 languages↗
Animal Diversity WebUniv. of Michigan MZspecies account↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility19 728 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI5 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics12 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
The eastern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix),Moriarty, John J. (2017). Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 8th ed. Society Study Amphibians and Reptles Herpetological Circular 43. also known as the copperhead, is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper, endemic to eastern North America; it is a member of the subfamily Crotalinae in the family Viperidae. The eastern copperhead has distinctive, dark brown, hourglass-shaped markings, overlaid on a light reddish brown or brown/gray background. The body type is heavy, rather than slender. Neonates are born with green or yellow tail tips, which progress to a darker brown or black within one year. Adults grow to a typical length (including tail) of 50 -. In most of North America, it favors deciduous forest and mixed woodlands. It may occupy rock outcroppings and ledges, but is also found in low-lying, swampy regions. During the winter, it hibernates in dens or limestone crevices, often together with timber rattlesnakes and black rat snakes. The eastern copperhead is known to feed on a wide variety of prey, including invertebrates (primarily arthropods) and vertebrates. Like most pit vipers, the eastern copperhead is generally an ambush predator; it takes up a promising position and waits for suitable prey to arrive. As a common species within its range, it may be encountered by humans. Unlike other viperids, they often "freeze" instead of slithering away, due to its habit of relying on excellent camouflage, rather than fleeing.Allf BC, Durst PA, Pfennig DW (2016). "Behavioral plasticity and the origins of novelty: the evolution of the rattlesnake rattle". The American Naturalist 188 (4): 475-483. Bites occur due to people unknowingly stepping on or near them."Venomous Snakes". National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Retrieved on November 10, 2008. Five subspecies have been recognized in the past, but recent genetic analysis had yielded new species information.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology1
Life cycle & reproduction5
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Agkistrodon contortrix has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
The complete instruction manual Agkistrodon contortrix carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type19 728 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions19 of 43 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| North Carolina Museum of Natural Scienceslocation not on record | 1 412 |
| Washington, US | 380 |
| Texas Memorial Museum, Texas Natural History Collectionlocation not on record | 365 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 311 |
| Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 223 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 198 |
| APSUlocation not on record | 168 |
| Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record | 165 |
| Montgomery, US | 143 |
| Fort Hays State University, Sternberg Museumlocation not on record | 101 |
| EL PASO, US | 98 |
| ASNHClocation not on record | 72 |
| München, DE | 63 |
| Berkeley, US | 51 |
| Provo, US | 45 |
| New Haven, US | 39 |
| CASlocation not on record | 34 |
| University of Texas at Arlingtonlocation not on record | 29 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 28 |
| Los Angeles, US | 28 |
| Southeastern Louisiana University, Vertebrate Museumlocation not on record | 28 |
| University of Nebraska State Museumlocation not on record | 27 |
| San Diego, US | 19 |
| Toronto, CA | 17 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 13 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 13 |
| UCOCVlocation not on record | 12 |
| Cambridge, US | 8 |
| F. Scorina Gomel State Universitylocation not on record | 7 |
| Philadelphia, US | 4 |
| Ohio State University - Reptile Division, Columbus, OH (OSUM)location not on record | 4 |
| Louisiana State University, Museum of Zoologylocation not on record | 3 |
| Tacoma, US | 3 |
| Mount Pleasant, US | 2 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 2 |
| Universidad de La Salle (La Salle)location not on record | 2 |
| 2 | |
| Zacatecas, MX | 2 |
| Ohio Wesleyan University Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 1 |
| University of Alberta Museumslocation not on record | 1 |
| Santa Cruz, US | 1 |
| Oregon State Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Universidad Católica de Manizaleslocation not on record | 1 |
Where the DNA of Agkistrodon contortrix was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.