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DeKay's brown snake

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For other species commonly referred to as the brown snake, see brown snake.

DeKay's brown snake
brown snake or De Kay's snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordatam
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Class:
Reptilia
Order:
Squamata
Suborder:
Serpentes
Family:
Colubridae
Subfamily:
Natricinae
Genus:
Storeria
Species:
S. dekayi
Binomial name
Storeria dekayi
(Holbrook, 1836)
Synonyms

Storeria dekayi, commonly known as the brown snake or De Kay's snake, is a small species of colubrid snake.[3][4]

Geographic range

It is native to Southern Ontario and Quebec, most of the eastern half of the United States, through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and possibly El Salvador.[1][2]

Description

Dorsally, it is brown to gray with a lighter center stripe bordered by small black spots; ventrally, it is lighter brown or pink with small black dots at the ends of the ventral scales.[5] Adults usually measure less than 12 inches (30 cm) in total length (including tail), but the record total length is 19+3⁄8 inches (49 cm).[6] It has keeled dorsal scales, and no loreal scale.[7]

Reproduction

Like other natricine snakes (such as watersnakes, genus Nerodia; and gartersnakes, genus Thamnophis), Storeria dekayi is an ovoviviparous species.

Diet

It eats earthworms, slugs, snails, and most other small invertebrates.

Etymology

The specific name, dekayi, is in honor of American zoologist James Ellsworth De Kay (1792–1851), who collected the first specimen in Long Island, New York, while the generic name, Storeria, honors zoologist David Humphreys Storer.[8][9] This is the only North American snake whose binomial is a double honorific - that is, both the generic name and the specific name honor people.

Northern brown snake, S. d. dekayi

Subspecies

There are eight recognized subspecies of S. dekayi, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2][10]

References

  1. ^ a b Template:IUCN
  2. ^ a b c The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ^ Stejneger L, Barbour T. 1917. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 125 pp. (Storeria dekayi, p. 98).
  4. ^ Wright AH, Wright AA. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock. 1,105 pp. (in two volumes). (Storeria dekayi, pp. 697-714, Figures 205-209, Map 53).
  5. ^ Schmidt KP, Davis DD. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. (Storeria dekayi, pp. 227-228 + Plate 25).
  6. ^ Conant R. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. ISBN 0-395-19979-4 (hardcover), ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Storeria dekayi, pp. 153-156, Figure 35 + Plate 22 + Map 28).
  7. ^ Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr. 1982. Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. (Storeria dekayi, pp. 158-159).
  8. ^ Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America – Explained. http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html
  9. ^ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Storeria dekayi, p. 68; genus Storeria, p. 255).
  10. ^ ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.

Further reading

  • Behler JL, King FW. 1979. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Knopf. 743 pp. ISBN 0-394-50824-6. (Storeria dekayi, pp. 654-655 + Plate 550).
  • Boulenger GA. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Ischnognathus dekayi, pp. 286-287).
  • Clausen HJ. 1936. Observations on the Brown Snake Storeria dekayi (Holbrook), with especial Reference to the Habits and Birth of Young. Copeia 1936: 98-102.
  • Conant R, Bridges W. 1939. What Snake is That?: A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains. (With 108 drawings by Edmond Malnate). New York and London: D. Appleton-Century. Frontispiece map + viii + 163 pp. + Plates A-C, 1-32. (Storeria dekayi, pp. 108-110 + Plate C, Figure 14; Plate 21, Figure 60).
  • Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR. 1978. Introduction to Herpetology: Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Storeria dekayi, p. 117).
  • Holbrook JE. 1842. North American Herpetology; or, a Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. Vol. IV. Philadelphia: J. Dobson. 136 pp. (Tropidonotus dekayi, pp. 53–55 & Plate XIV [opposite p. 53]).
  • Morris PA. 1948. Boy's Book of Snakes: How to Recognize and Understand Them. (A volume of the Humanizing Science Series, edited by Jaques Cattell). New York: Ronald Press. viii + 185 pp. (Storeria dekayi dekayi, pp. 26-28, 180).
  • Zim HS, Smith HM. 1956. Reptiles and Amphibians: A Guide to Familiar American Species. (A Golden Nature Guide). New York: Simon and Schuster. 160 pp. (Storeria dekayi pp. 106, 156).
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