Arizona snake
| Arizona snake | ||||||||||||
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Arizona elegans occidentalis |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Arizona | ||||||||||||
| Kennicott , 1859 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Arizona elegans | ||||||||||||
| Kennicott , 1859 |
The glossy snake ( Arizona elegans ) is a small Natternart that in southern North America occurs. Some authors consider the subspecies A. elegans occidentalis as a separate species A. occidentalis in the otherwise monotypic genus.
features
Arizona snakes are reddish-yellow to light-brown snakes with brown, black-edged transverse spots on their backs and two rows of small spots on their flanks. The corners of the mouth and eyes are connected by a dark temporal strip. The belly is monochrome yellowish white. The head is elongated with a pointed snout and hardly set off from the neck. The total length of the moderately slim body is up to 125 centimeters.
The genus is separated from the genus Pituophis by the paired prefrontalia and the mostly smooth dorsalia . The trunk has 21 to 31 oblique rows of smooth scales in its center, 185 to 241 ventral shields and 39 to 63 sub-caudal shields and an undivided anal shield .
Occurrence
The distribution area of the Arizona anate stretches across southern Nebraska , Oklahoma , Texas , southern California and central Mexico . The species colonizes various open habitats up to a height of 2,200 meters.
Way of life
The species is predominantly nocturnal and spends the day buried in the ground or hidden under stones or in small mammal structures. Arizona snakes are also occasionally encountered during the day, especially in the eastern range. The winter months are mainly spent in rodent burrows with a four to five month rest period.
The prey animals are mainly small lizards that are captured at night during their resting phase. Larger snakes in particular also prey on small mammals, birds and snakes. When threatened, Arizona snakes react with violent vibrations of the tail end, but bite extremely rarely.
The mating season is in spring, the young hatch a little more than two months after the 3 to 23 elongated eggs have been laid.
Hazards and protective measures
Since this species is still relatively common and also occurs in protected areas, it is listed by the IUCN as a Least Concern (not endangered).
Systematics
Eight or nine subspecies are described within the species Arizona elegans :
- A. elegans blanchardi Klauber , 1946 - 29 to 31 rows of dorsal scales, long tail, with large spots, in northern Texas , Kansas and Oklahoma
- A. elegans candida Klauber , 1946 - light basic color, narrow spots, often paired pre-ocular shields, in Southern California
- A. elegans eburnata Klauber , 1946 - with small, narrow spots, light basic color, in Southern California
- A. elegans elegans Kennicott in Baird , 1859 - 29 to 31 rows of dorsal scales, long tail, well-defined spots, in Texas
- A. elegans expolita Klauber , 1946 - few spots, 27 rows of dorsal scales, long tail, in Chihuahua , Mexico
- A. elegans noctivaga Klauber , 1946 - short tail, large spots, 27 rows of dorsal scales, in Arizona
- A. elegans occidentalis Blanchard , 1924 - with posed, more numerous dorsal spots, less pronounced side spots, 27 rows of dorsal scales and a short tail; partly listed as a separate species Arizona occidentalis , in California
- A. elegans pacata Klauber , 1946 - few spots, 27 rows of dorsal scales, short tail, in Southern California
- A. elegans philipi Klauber , 1946 - low number of ventral shields, mostly 27 rows of dorsal scales, long tail, in New Mexico
swell
- Ludwig Trutnau : Non-toxic snakes, part 2 . 4th edition. Eugen Ulmer GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3223-0 .
- Laurence M. Klauber: The glossy snake, Arizona, with descriptions of new subspecies . In: Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History . tape 10 , no. 17 , 1946, pp. 311–398 (English, digitized ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Javier A. Rodríguez-Robles, Christopher J. Bell, Harry W. Greene: Food Habits of the Glossy Snake, Arizona elegans, with Comparisons to the Diet of Sympatric Long-Nosed Snakes, Rhinocheilus lecontei . In: Journal of Herpetology . tape 33 , no. 1 , 1999, p. 87-92 , doi : 10.2307 / 1565546 (English).
- ↑ Arizona elegans in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Posted by: Hammerson, GA, Frost, DR, Santos-Barrera, G., Vasquez Díaz, J. & Quintero Díaz, GE, 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
- ^ Frank N. Blanchard: A new snake of the genus Arizona . In: Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan . tape 150 , 1924, pp. 1–3 (English, PDF ).
- ↑ Entry of the genre at ITIS
