Western ground snake

Western ground snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Sonora
Species:	S. semiannulata
Binomial name
*Sonora semiannulata* Baird and Girard, 1853
Synonyms
Sonora semiannulata Baird and Girard, 1853 Lamprosoma episcopum Kennicott in Baird, 1859 Homalosoma episcopum — Jan, 1865 Contia isozona Cope, 1866 Contia episcopa isozona — Cope,1880 Contia taylori Boulenger, 1894 Chionactis episcopus isozonus — Cope, 1900 Sonora miniata linearis Stickel, 1938 Sonora semiannulata — Liner, 1994^[1]^[2]

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.