Natrix

Natrix is a genus of Old World snakes found mainly across Eurasia in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. They are commonly called grass snakes and water snakes, but some other snake species also known commonly as "grass snakes" and "water snakes" are not in the genus.

Species

The genus Natrix contains five extant species and at least five extinct species.

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	Natrix astreptophora	Iberian grass snake	Iberian peninsula, southern France, coastal north-west Africa
	Natrix helvetica	barred grass snake	Western Europe, including southern Great Britain
	Natrix maura	viperine water snake	Portugal, Spain, France, north-west Italy and into Switzerland; north-west Africa
	Natrix natrix	grass snake	Mainland Europe from mid Scandinavia to southern Italy, to northern Middle East and Central Asia
	Natrix tessellata	dice snake	Much of Eurasia, and Egypt
	†Natrix longivertebrata	extinct species	Poland, Austria, France
	†Natrix merkurensis Ivanov, 2002	extinct species	Czech Republic, France
	†Natrix mlynarskii Rage, 1988	extinct species	France
	†Natrix parva Szyndlar, 1984	extinct species	Poland
	†Natrix sansaniensis	extinct species	Czech Republic, France

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Natrix.

Etymology

Natrix is classical Latin for a water snake. The word comes from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "snake", with cognates in the Celtic and Germanic languages, the latter including the English adder. It was probably influenced through folk etymology by the Latin nare and natare meaning "swim"; it appears to be a grammatically feminine word for "swimmer".

Geography

The refuge of a widely distributed Western European lineage regarding the barred grass snake commonly known as Natrix helvetica was most likely located in southern France and outside the classical refuges in the southern European peninsulas. One genetic lineage of the common grass snake is also distributed in Scandinavia, Central Europe, and the Balkan Peninsula.