Western ground snake
| Western ground snake | |
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| Species: | S. semiannulata
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| Binomial name | |
| Sonora semiannulata | |
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The western ground snake (Sonora semiannulata) is a species of small, harmless colubrid snake endemic to North America. It is sometimes referred to as the common ground snake or variable ground snake as its patterning and coloration can vary widely, even within the same geographic region.[3]
Geographic range
It is native to the Southwestern United States, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah, as well as northern Mexico, in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, and Sonora.
Description
Ground snakes can grow to a total length of 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 cm). Their colors and patterns can vary widely. They can be brown, red, or orange, with black banding, orange or brown striping, or be solid-colored. The underside is typically white or gray. They have fairly smooth dorsal scales, a small head, and eyes with round pupils.
Habitat
Their preferred habitat is dry, rocky areas with loose soil.
Behavior
Ground snakes are typically nocturnal and secretive, but they are common throughout their range. They are often found on roadsides, or in dry drainage ditches at night, foraging for food.
Diet
Their diet consists primarily of invertebrates, such as spiders, scorpions, centipedes, crickets, and insect larvae.
Reproduction
They are oviparous, breeding and laying eggs through the summer months.
Taxonomy
Sonora semiannulata was once broken up into five separate subspecies, based on the vast differences in color and patterning that the species displays, but recent research has shown that the various colors and patterns of ground snake interbreed indiscriminately, making distinction between them impossible and thus not warranting subspecies status, though some sources still refer to them - using geography as a basis rather than morphology.
References
- ^ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ Stejneger, L., and T. Barbour. 1917. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. 125 pp. (Sonora, p. 92.)
- ^ Stebbins, R.C. (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition (Peterson Field Guides ®). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Boston and New York. pp. 391–393. ISBN 0-395-98272-3.
External links
- California Herps: Sonora semiannulata
- Digital Atlas of Idaho: Sonora semiannulata
- Amphibians and Reptiles of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex: Sonora semiannulata
- Arizona PARC: Sonora semiannulata
Further reading
- Baird, S.F., and C.F. Girard. 1853. Catalogue of the Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part. I.—Serpents. Smithsonian Institution. Washington, District of Columbia. xvi + 172 pp. (Sonora semiannulata, p. 117.)
- Smith, H.M., and E.D. Brodie, Jr. 1982. Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. Golden Press. New York. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3 (paperback). (Sonora semiannulata, pp. 168–169.)
- Wright, A.H., and A.A. Wright. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Comstock. Ithaca and London. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Separate accounts of the following synonyms of Sonora semiannulata: Sonora episcopa episcopa, Sonora episcopa taylori, Sonora semiannulata semiannulata, Sonora semiannulata blanchardi, Sonora semiannulata gloydi, Sonora semiannulata isozona, Sonora semiannulata linearis, pp. 670–692, Figures 196-203 + Map 51 on p. 668.)