Salvadora grahamiae explained
Salvadora grahamiae, also known commonly as the eastern patch-nosed snake and the mountain patchnose snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and adjacent northeastern Mexico.[1]
Etymology
The specific name, grahamiae, is in honor of Colonel James Duncan Graham, United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers.[2]
Geographic range
S. grahamiae is found in the US states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and in the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Querétaro, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz.[1]
Habitat
S. grahamiae occurs in a wide variety of habitats including forest, savanna, shrubland, grassland, and desert, at altitudes from sea level to .
Description
S. grahamiae may attain a total length (including tail) of . It has eight upper labials. The posterior chin shields touch or are separated by only one small scale.[3]
Diet
S. grahamiae preys predominately upon lizards, especially those of the genus Aspidoscelis.[4] It also eats reptile eggs, small snakes, nestling birds, and small mammals.[5]
Reproduction
S. grahamiae is oviparous.[1] Eggs are laid in April–June, and clutch size is 5–10.[5]
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. ("Salvadora Grahamiæ ", new species, pp. 104–105).
- Cope ED (1879). "Eleventh Contribution to the Herpetology of Tropical America". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 18: 261–277. ("Phimothyra grahamiæ ", new combination, p. 262).
- Powell R, Conant R, Collins JT (2016). Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 207 figures, 47 color plates. . (Salvadora grahamiae, p. 37, Figure182 + Plate 37).
- Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, A Division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes). (Salvadora grahamiae, pp. 246–249, Figure 188).
Notes and References
- www.reptile-database.org.
- [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]
- [Hobart Muir Smith|Smith HM]
- [Karl Patterson Schmidt|Schmidt KP]
- [Robert C. Stebbins|Stebbins RC]