Pituophis
Pacific gopher snake
Pituophis catenifer catenifer
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Tribe: Lampropeltini
Genus: Pituophis
Holbrook, 1842
Synonyms

Churchilla, Elaphis, Epiglottophis, Pityophis, Rhinechis

Pituophis is a genus of nonvenomous colubrid snakes, commonly referred to as gopher snakes, pine snakes, and bullsnakes, which are endemic to North America.

Geographic range

Species and subspecies within the genus Pituophis are found throughout Mexico, the Southern and Western United States and Western Canada.[1]

Description

All species of Pituophis are large and powerfully built. The head is relatively small in proportion to the body and it is only slightly distinct from the neck. The rostral is enlarged and elongated, imparting a characteristic somewhat pointed shape to the head. All the species occurring in the United States have four prefrontals instead of the usual two.[1]

Modified epiglottis

In all snakes of the genus Pituophis, the epiglottis is peculiarly modified so that it is thin, erect and flexible. When a stream of air is forced from the trachea, the epiglottis vibrates, thereby producing the peculiarly loud, hoarse hissing for which bullsnakes, gopher snakes and pine snakes are well known.[2]

Species and subspecies

ImageScientific nameCommon NameSubspeciesDistribution
Pituophis catenifer (Blainville, 1835)gopher snake
  • P. c. affinis (Hallowell, 1852) – Sonoran gopher snake
  • P. c. annectens Baird & Girard, 1853 – San Diego gopher snake
  • P. c. bimaris Klauber, 1946 – central Baja California gopher snake
  • P. c. catenifer (Blainville, 1835) – Pacific gopher snake
  • P. c. coronalis Klauber, 1946 – Coronado Island gopher snake
  • P. c. deserticola Stejneger, 1893 – Great Basin gopher snake
  • P. c. fulginatus Klauber, 1946 – San Martin Island gopher snake
  • P. c. pumilis Klauber, 1946 – Santa Cruz Island gopher snake[3]
  • P. c. sayi (Schlegel, 1837) – bullsnake
North America
Pituophis deppei (A.M.C. Duméril, 1853)Mexican bullsnake
  • P. d. deppei (A.M.C. Duméril, 1853) – southern Mexican pine snake
  • P. d. jani (Cope, 1861) – northern Mexican pine snake
 central, Mexico
Pituophis insularis Klauber, 1946Credos Island gopher snakeIsla de Credos, Mexico
Pituophis lineaticollis (Cope, 1861)Middle American gopher snake
  • P. l. gibsoni Stuart, 1954
  • P. l. lineaticollis (Cope, 1861)
 From Mexico city, south through Mexico and to Guatemala
Pituophis melanoleucus (Daudin, 1803)pine snake
  • P. m. lodingi Blanchard, 1924 – black pine snake
  • P. m. melanoleucus (Daudin, 1803) – northern pine snake
  • P. m. mugitus Barbour, 1921 – Florida pine snake
 southeastern United States
Pituophis ruthveni Stull, 1929Louisiana pine snakewest-central Louisiana and East Texas
Pituophis vertebralis (Blainville, 1835)Cape gopher snakesouthern Baja California Sur, Mexico.

References

  1. 1 2 Conant R (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Genus Pituophis, pp. 198–201 + Plate 27 + figure 57 + Map 147).
  2. ↑ Schmidt KP, Davis DD (1941). Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. (Genus Pituophis, pp. 158–160).
  3. ↑ "Santa Cruz Island Gopher Snake - Channel Islands National Park (U.S. National Park Service)".

Further reading

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