Tropidoclonion

Tropidoclonion
Texas lined snake
Tropidoclonion lineatum texanum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Natricinae
Genus: Tropidoclonion
Species: T. lineatum
Binomial name
Tropidoclonion lineatum
(Hallowell, 1856)
Synonyms
  • Microps lineatus Hallowell, 1856
  • Storeria lineata Cope, 1860[1]
  • Ischnognathus lineatus
    Boulenger, 1893[2]
  • Tropidoclonium lineatum
    Cope, 1900
  • Tropidoclonion lineatum
    Stejneger & Barbour, 1917[1]

Tropidoclonion is a genus of small colubrid snakes, commonly known as lined snakes, which are endemic to North America. The single species in the genus, Tropidoclonion lineatum, has four subspecies.

Subspecies

Etymology

The subspecific name, mertensi, is in honor of German herpetologist Robert Mertens.[3]

Geographic range

Lined snakes are found throughout the central United States from Illinois to Texas. They prefer grassland areas with soft, moist soils.

Description

Lined snakes are olive green to brown with a distinctive tan or yellow stripe down the back from head to tail. They have similar stripes down each side on scale rows 2 and 3.[4] On the belly, they have a double row of clean-cut black half-moon spots running down the middle.[5] They have narrow heads and small eyes.

Adult size is typically less than 35 cm (14 inches) in total length. However, maximum recorded total length is 53 cm (21 in).[6]

The keeled dorsal scales are arranged in 19 rows at midbody. There are only 5 or 6 upper labials.[6]

Behavior

Lined snakes are semifossorial, spending most of their time hiding under rocks, leaf litter, logs, or buried in the soil. The majority of their diets consist of earthworms.

Reproduction

They are ovoviviparous, the young being born in August. The average brood is seven or eight.[7] The newborn juveniles are 10–12 cm (4-4¾ in.) long at birth.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Stejneger, L., and T. Barbour. 1917. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. 125 pp. (Tropidoclonion lineatum, pp. 99-100.)
  2. Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families...Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, Printers.) London. xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I.- XXVIII. (Ischnognathus lineatus, pp. 289-290.)
  3. Beolens, B., M. Watkins, and M. Grayson. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore, Maryland. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Tropidoclonion lineatum mertensi, p. 176.)
  4. Schmidt, K.P., and D.D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. G.P. Putnam's Son's. New York. 365 pp. (Tropidoclonion lineatum, pp. 257-259, Figure 83 + Plate 29, Top, on p. 349.)
  5. 1 2 Conant, R. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Houghton Mifflin. Boston. xviii + 429 pp. ISBN 0-395-19979-4 (hardcover), ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Tropidoclonion lineatum, pp. 166-167 + Plate 24 + Map 123.)
  6. 1 2 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). (Tropidoclonion lineatum, pp. 152-153.)
  7. Force, E.R. 1931. Habits and Birth of the Lined Snake, Tropidoclonion lineatum (Hallowell). Copeia 1931: 51-53.

Further reading

External links

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