Arizona (genus)

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Arizona

California glossy snake
Arizona elegans occidentalus

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Colubrinae
Genus:	Arizona
Species:	A. elegans

Binomial name

Arizona elegans
Kennicott, 1859

Synonyms

Coluber arizonae
Boulenger, 1894

Arizona is a genus of small colubrid snakes commonly referred to as glossy snakes. The genus has only one officially recognized species, A. elegans and 7 subspecies, though in peer-reviewed taxonomic articles, recommendations have been made to grant A. elegans occidentalis full species status and many sources often refer to as such.

1 Species
2 Description
3 Habitat
4 Reproduction
5 References

[edit] Species

Texas glossy snake, A. elegans arenicola (Dixon, 1960)
Mojave glossy snake, A. elegans candida (Klauber, 1946)
Desert glossy snake, A. elegans eburnata (Klauber, 1946)
Kansas glossy snake, A. elegans elegans (Kennicott, 1859)
Arizona glossy snake, A. elegans noctovaga (Klauber, 1946)
California glossy snake, A. elegans occidentalis (Blanchard, 1924)
Painted glossy snake, A. elegans philipi (Klauber, 1946)

[edit] Description

The glossy snakes are characterized by brown or grey dorsal spots, with a dark border around them on a tan, cream or light grey background and a white or cream colored, unmarked ventral surface. Coloration often varies in relation to the color of the soil a snake's native habitat. They average 50-90 cm in length.

[edit] Habitat

Habitat is normally semi-arid grasslands of the southwestern United States, from California in the west, to Kansas in the east and as far south as Texas, and northern Mexico. Their primary diet consists of small rodents and small lizards.

[edit] Reproduction

Glossy snakes are oviparous. They breed in the late spring and early summer and young hatch out in the early fall. Clutches average from 10 to 20 young, that are approximately 25 cm long.