Crotalus ruber lucasensis explained

Crotalus ruber lucasensis, the San Lucan diamond rattlesnake,^[1] is a venomous pitviper subspecies found in Mexico in the Cape region of lower Baja California.

Description

Similarly to C. r. ruber, adult specimens commonly exceed 100cm (00inches) in length. Both of these subspecies can be identified by having prenasals that are usually in contact with the first pair of supralabials, an absence of interchinshields, and by having tail rings that are either complete, or broken at the midline, but usually not laterally.^[2] However, this subspecies in particular exhibits a tendency for rattle loss.^[2]

Geographic range

Found in Mexico in the cape region of lower Baja California. The type locality given is "Agua Caliente, Cape Region of Lower [Baja] California, Mexico."

Further reading

• Van Denburgh, J. 1920. Description of a New Species of Rattlesnake (Crotalus lucasensis) from Lower California. Proc. California Acad. Sci., 4th series, vol. 10, pp. 29–30.

Notes and References

1. Klauber LM. 1997. Rattlesnakes: Their Habitats, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind. Second Edition. 2 volumes. Reprint, University of California Press, Berkeley. .
2. Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. 2 volumes. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. .