Trans pecos rat snake

Trans pecos rat snake
	Trans pecos rat snake ( Bogertophis subocularis )
Systematics
Subordination :	Snakes (serpentes)
Superfamily :	Adder-like and viper-like (Colubroidea)
Family :	Adders (Colubridae)
Subfamily :	True snakes (Colubrinae)
Genre :	North American rat snakes ( Bogertophis )
Type :	Trans pecos rat snake
Scientific name
	Bogertophis subocularis
	( Brown , 1901)

The Trans-Pecos rat snake ( Bogertophis subocularis ) and Trans-Pecos Rat Snake called, is one in North America in the desert areas in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico -based nature of the family of snakes .

Appearance

The total body length of adults is between 1 and 1.40 meters in females, males can be up to 1.7 meters long (including the tail). The trans-pecos rat snake usually has a yellowish basic color, with two long black stripes on the smooth neck, which merge into h-shaped, black patterns towards the end of the tail. But there are also gray-silvery shiny color morphs .

distribution and habitat

This species is found in the deserts and semi-deserts of New Mexico , Texas and the neighboring Mexican states of Chihuahua , Coahuila , Durango , Nuevo León . The name Trans-Pecos rat snake refers to the range that lies exclusively south of the Pecos River .

Way of life

The nocturnal hunters rest during the day hidden in rock crevices and smaller burrows. They hibernate in the cold winter months. To ward off enemies, they give off a musky scent.

The female lays 4 to 8 eggs under stones or rotting plant material.

Distribution map of the Trans-Pecos rat snake

young trans pecos rat snake

Systematics and taxonomy

The snake was first described in 1901 by Arthur Erwin Brown as Coluber subocularis . The subocular epithet refers to a series of small scales directly below the eye, above the shields of the upper lip . Stejneger & Barbour divided the genus Coluber in 1917 in their Check List of the North American Amphibians and Reptiles and placed the Trans-Pecos rat snake in the genus of the climbing snake ( Elaphe ), where it remained as Elaphe subocularis for 70 years. It was not until 1988 that Dowling and Price established the genus of the North American rat snake ( Bogertophis ) specifically for the trans- pecos rat snake and its only close relative, Bogertophis rosaliae . The two species of snake differ from the other snakes in North America by the row of scales of three to seven scales under the eyes. The generic name Bogertophis honors Charles M. Bogert , the former curator of the herpetology department at the American Museum of Natural History , ophis is the Greek name for "snake".

Danger

Since this species is widespread, the IUCN classifies it as “ Least Concern ” .

literature

David Burnie (Ed.), Mariele Radmacher-Martens: Animals: The large picture encyclopedia with over 2,000 species. Translated from the English by Gabriele Lehari. Dorling Kindersley, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-8310-2232-8 , p. 394.
Dieter Schmidt: Adders - fascinating & exotic. 1st edition. Gräfe & Unzer, 2005 ISBN 3-7742-6947-5 .

Web links

Commons : Trans-Pecos rat snake ( Bogertophis subocularis ) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Bogertophis subocularis in The Reptile Database

Bogertophis subocularis inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014.3. Posted by: Hammerson, GA & Santos-Barrera, G., 2007. Retrieved March 3, 2015.

Individual evidence

↑ Hobart M. Smith, Edmund D. Brodie Jr .: Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. Golden Field Guides from St. Martin's Press, New York 2001, ISBN 1-58238-123-2 , pp. 184-185.
↑ Arthur Erwin Brown: A New Species of Coluber from Western Texas. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 53, 1901, pp. 492-495.
^ Karl Patterson Schmidt, Delbert Dwight Davis: Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. GP Putnam's Sons, New York 1941, pp. 152-153.
^ Leonhard Hess Stejneger & Thomas Barbour: A Check List of the North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Mass.) 1917.
↑ Herndon G. Dowling & Robert M. Price: A proposed new genus for Elaphe subocularis and Elaphe rosaliae. The Snake, 20, 1988, pp. 52-63.
↑ Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson: The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2011, ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5 .
↑ Bogertophis subocularis in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014.3. Posted by: Hammerson, GA & Santos-Barrera, G., 2007. Retrieved March 3, 2015.

[Smith_1982-1] Hobart M. Smith, Edmund D. Brodie Jr .: Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. Golden Field Guides from St. Martin's Press, New York 2001, ISBN 1-58238-123-2 , pp. 184-185.

[Brown_1901-2] Arthur Erwin Brown: A New Species of Coluber from Western Texas. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 53, 1901, pp. 492-495.

[Schmidt_1941-3] Karl Patterson Schmidt, Delbert Dwight Davis: Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. GP Putnam's Sons, New York 1941, pp. 152-153.

[Stejneger&Barbour_1917-4] Leonhard Hess Stejneger & Thomas Barbour: A Check List of the North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Mass.) 1917.

[Dowling_&_Price_1988-5] Herndon G. Dowling & Robert M. Price: A proposed new genus for Elaphe subocularis and Elaphe rosaliae. The Snake, 20, 1988, pp. 52-63.

[Eponym_Reptiles-6] Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson: The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2011, ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5 .

[IUCN-7] Bogertophis subocularis in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014.3. Posted by: Hammerson, GA & Santos-Barrera, G., 2007. Retrieved March 3, 2015.