Southwestern blackhead snake
| Southwestern blackhead snake | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Subfamily: | Colubrinae |
| Genus: | Tantilla |
| Species: | T. hobartsmithi |
| Binomial name | |
| Tantilla hobartsmithi Taylor, 1936 | |
| Synonyms | |
The southwestern blackhead snake (Tantilla hobartsmithi) is a species of small colubrid snake native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Etymology
The specific name or epithet, hobartsmithi, is in honor of American zoologist and herpetologist Hobart M. Smith (1912-2013), which sometimes leads it to be referred to as Smith's blackhead snake.
Taxonomy and Systematics
It was first described by Edward Harrison Taylor in 1936.
Description
The southwestern blackhead snake is a small snake, growing to a maximum total length of 15 in (38 cm), but typically averaging around 8 in (20 cm) in total length.
Dorsally, it is uniformly brown in color, except for the black-colored head, which gives it its common name, and a cream-colored or white collar. On the belly, there is a broad reddish stripe, which runs down the center of the ventral scales.[2]
Venom
It is rear-fanged, having enlarged rear teeth and a modified saliva, which while harmless to mammals, is believed to be toxic to arthropods, their primary prey.
Behavior
Blackhead snakes are primarily nocturnal and fossorial, spending most of their time hiding in loose soil, leaf litter, or under ground debris.
Diet
They eat most varieties of soft-bodied insects and centipedes.
Geographic range
The southwestern blackhead snake is found in the southwestern United States, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah, as well as in northern Mexico, in Chihuahua, and Coahuila, and Sonora.[3]
In California, it was sighted in Darwin Falls, Death Valley National Park, on May 18 of 2012, and in Sedona, Arizona of Yavapai County on April 11, 2005.
In Texas, it was found in Big Bend National Park on April 25, 2010.[4] ...seen in HM&FEW's GARDEN (Roswell, New Mexico) on April 30, 2016
References
- ↑ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ Stebbins, R.C. 2003. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Houghton Mifflin. Boston and New York. xiii + 533 pp. ISBN 0-395-98272-3 (paperback). (Tantilla hobartsmithi, p. 400 + Figures 28 & 29 on p. 398 + Map 177 on p. 503.)
- ↑ "Tantilla hobartsmithi". Discover Life. Retrieved July 9, 2006.
- ↑ "Smith's Black-headed Snake". Retrieved March 22, 2013.
External links
- Species Tantilla hobartsmithi at The Reptile Database
Further reading
- Blanchard, F.N. 1938. Snakes of the Genus Tantilla in the United States. Zool. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist. 20 (28): 369-376. ("Tantilla utahensis sp. nov.", p. 372.)
- Taylor, E.H. 1936. Notes and Comments on Certain American and Mexican Snakes of the Genus Tantilla, with Descriptions of New Species. Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 39: 335-348. (Tantilla hobartsmithi, p. 340.)
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