| Taxon | Masticophis |
|---|---|
| Authority | Baird & Girard, 1853 |
| Subdivision ranks | Species |
| Subdivision | 13, see text. |
| Synonyms | Bascanion, Bascanium, Coryphodon, Herpetodryas |
Masticophis is a genus of snakes, commonly referred to as whip snakes or coachwhips, in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. The genus is endemic to the Americas.[1] Member species are characterized by having a long, thin body and are not dangerous to humans.
Distribution and habitat
Species of Masticophis are found in the United States, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.[1]
Description
Adults of species in the genus Masticophis may attain a total length (tail included) from 1.52 m (5.0 ft) for M. lateralis to 2.59 m (8.5 ft) for M. flagellum. A distinctive character of this genus is the shape of the frontal scale (the large scale in the center of the upper surface of the head) which is bell-shaped and elongated. At the rear of the body, the dorsal scales are arranged in only 13 rows.[2]
Species and subspecies
The genus Masticophis contains 13 species that are recognized as being valid, six of which have recognized subspecies.[3]
- Masticophis anthonyi (Stejneger, 1901) – Clarion Island whip snake
- Masticophis aurigulus (Cope, 1861) – Baja California striped whip snake
- Masticophis barbouri (Van Denburgh & Slevin, 1921) – Baja California striped whip snake, Espiritu Santo striped whip snake
- Masticophis bilineatus Jan, 1863 – Sonoran whip snake
- Masticophis flagellum (Shaw, 1802) – coachwhip
- Masticophis flagellum flagellum (Shaw, 1802) – eastern coachwhip
- Masticophis flagellum lineatulus H.M. Smith, 1941 – lined coachwhip
- Masticophis flagellum testaceus (Say, 1823) – western coachwhip
- Masticophis fuliginosus (Cope, 1895) – Baja California coachwhip
- Masticophis lateralis (Hallowell, 1853 – California whipsnake
- Masticophis lateralis euryxanthus Riemer, 1954 – Alameda striped racer
- Masticophis lateralis lateralis (Hallowell, 1853) – California striped racer
- Masticophis lineatus (Bocourt, 1890)
- Masticophis mentovarius (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) – neotropical whip snake
- Masticophis piceus (Cope, 1892)
- Masticophis piceus cingulum Lowe & Woodin, 1954 – Sonoran coachwhip
- Masticophis piceus piceus (Cope, 1892) – red coachwhip
- Masticophis piceus ruddocki Brattstrom & Warren, 1953 – San Joaquin coachwhip
- Masticophis schotti Baird & Girard, 1853 – Schott's whip snake
- Masticophis schotti ruthveni Ortenburger, 1923 – Ruthven's whip snake
- Masticophis schotti schotti Baird & Girard, 1853 – Schott's whip snake
- Masticophis slevini (Lowe & Norris, 1955) – Isla San Esteban whipsnake, San Esteban Island whipsnake
- Masticophis taeniatus (Hallowell, 1852) – striped whip snake
- Masticophis taeniatus girardi (Stejneger & Barbour, 1917) – Central Texas whip snake
- Masticophis taeniatus taeniatus (Hallowell, 1852) – desert striped whip snake
Nota bene: A binomial authority or trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Masticophis.
References
- ^ Conant R (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Genus Masticophis, pp. 177–178).
- ^ Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3 (paperback). (Genus Masticophis, pp. 190–193).
- ^ www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
- Baird SF, Girard C (1853). Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part I.—Serpents. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. xvi + 172 pp. (Masticophis, new genus, p. 98).
- O'Connell, Kyle A. & Smith, Eric N. (2018). "The effect of missing data on coalescent species delimitation and a taxonomic revision of whipsnakes (Colubridae: Masticophis)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 127: 356–366.
- O'Connell, K.A. & Smith, E.N. (2018). "New molecular sequence data and species trees for North American whipsnakes". Data in Brief. 18: 1995–1999.