West Coast garter snake
West Coast garter snake | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Family: | Colubridae |
Genus: | Thamnophis |
Species: | T. validus
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Binomial name | |
Thamnophis validus | |
Synonyms[2] | |
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The West Coast garter snake (Thamnophis validus), also known commonly as Kennicott's water snake, is a species of snake in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Mexico. Four subspecies are recognized.
Geographic range
[edit]T. validus is found in the Mexican states of Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Jalisco, and Sonora.[2]
Reproduction
[edit]T. validus is viviparous.[2]
Subspecies
[edit]There are four subspecies of T. validus which are recognized as being valid, including the nominate subspecies.[2]
- T. v. celaeno (Cope, 1861) – cape garter snake, Mexican Pacific lowlands garter snake
- T. v. isabelleae (Conant, 1953)
- T. v. thamnophisoides (Conant, 1961)
- T. v. validus (Kennicott, 1860)
Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Thamnophis.
Etymology
[edit]The subspecific name isabelleae is in honor of the American wildlife artist Isabelle Hunt Conant, the wife of the American herpetologist Roger Conant.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Ponce-Campos P, García Aguayo A (2007). "Thamnophis valida ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ a b c d Species Thamnophis validus at The Reptile Database
- ^ Conant R (1953).
Further reading
[edit]- 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. (Tropidonotus validus, pp. 237–238).
- Conant R (1953). "Three New Water Snakes of the Genus [Natrix] from Mexico". Natural History Miscellanea (126): 1–9. (Natrix valida isabelleae, new subspecies, pp. 7–9).
- Conant R (1961). "A New Water Snake from Mexico, with Notes on Anal Plates and Apical Pits in Natrix and Thamnophis ". American Museum Novitates (2060): 1–22. (Natrix valida thamnophisoides, new subspecies, pp. 2–12, Figure 1).
- Cope ED (1861). "Notes and descriptions of new and little known species of American Reptiles". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 12: 339–345. (Tropidonotus celaeno, new species, p. 341).
- Heimes P (2016). Snakes of Mexico: Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. I. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Edition Chimaira. 572 pp. ISBN 978-3899731002. (Thamnophis validus, p. 385).
- Kennicott R (1860). "Descriptions of New Species of North American Serpents in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 12: 328–338. (Regina valida, new species, pp. 334–335).