Crotalus viridis
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 Hopi rattlesnake, C. v. nuntius
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| Crotalus viridis (Rafinesque, 1818) |
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Crotalus viridis is a venomous pitviper species native to the western United States, southwestern Canada, and northern Mexico. Two subspecies are recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.[2]
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[edit] Description
This species commonly grows to more than 100 cm in length. The maximum recorded size is 151.5 cm (Klauber, 1937). In Montana, specimens occasionally exceed 120 cm in length; Klauber (1972) mentioned that the species reaches its maximum size in this region.[5]
[edit] Common names
Prairie rattlesnake,[2][4] western rattlesnake,[3] plains rattlesnake, black rattler, common rattlesnake, confluent rattlesnake, Great Basin rattlesnake, large prairie rattlesnake, Missouri rattlesnake, rattlesnake of the prairies, spotted rattlesnake.[4]
[edit] Geographic range
Found in North America over much of the Great Plains, from southern Canada south through the United States to northern Mexico. In Canada it occurs in Alberta and Saskatchewan; in the USA in eastern Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, extreme eastern Arizona; in Mexico in northern Coahuila and northwestern Chihuahua. Its vertical range from 100 m near the Rio Grande River to over 2,775 m elevation in Wyoming.[5]
Wright and Wright (1957) and Klauber (1997) both mention Utah as within the range of this species, including maps showing it confined to the extreme southeastern part of the state.[4][6]
The type locality is described as "the Upper Missouri" (Valley, USA). An emendation was proposed by Smith and Taylor (1950) to "Gross, Boyd County, Nebraska."[1]
[edit] Conservation status
This species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001).[7] Species are listed as such due to their wide distribution, presumed large population, or because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. The population trend is stable. Year assessed: 2006.[8]
[edit] Subspecies
| Subspecies[2] | Authority[2] | Common name[2] | Geographic range[6] |
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| C. v. nuntius | Klauber, 1935 | Hopi rattlesnake | The United States from northeastern and north-central Arizona, from the New Mexican line to Cateract Creek, including the Little Colorado River basin, the southern section of the Apache Indian Reservation, the Hopi Reservation, and the Coconino Plateau from the southern rim of the Grand Canyon to U.S. Highway 66 in the south. |
| C. v. viridis | (Rafinesque, 1818) | Prairie rattlesnake | North American Great Plains from the Rocky Mountains to long. 96° W. and from southern Canada to extreme northern Mexico, including southwestern Saskatchewan, southeastern Alberta, Idaho in the Lemhi Valley, Montana east of the higher Rockies, southwestern North Dakota, west, central and extreme southeastern South Dakota, western Iowa, central and western Nebraska, Wyoming except for the Rockies, Colorado, central and western Kansas, Oklahoma, extreme southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, New Mexico, western and southwestern Texas, northeastern Sonora, northern Chihuahua, northern Coahuila. |
[edit] Taxonomy
The taxonomic history of this species is convoluted. Previously, seven other C. viridis subspecies were also recognized, including abyssus, caliginis, cerberus, concolor, helleri, lutosus and oreganus. However, in 2001 Ashton and de Queiroz published a paper describing their analysis of the variation of mitochondrial DNA across the range of this species. Their results agreed broadly with those obtained by Pook et al. (2000). Two main clades were identified, east and west of the Rocky Mountains, which they argued were actually two different species: on the one hand C. viridis, including the conventional subspecies viridis and nuntius, and on the other C. oreganus, including all the other traditional subspecies of C. viridis. The authors retained the names of the traditional subspecies, but emphasized the need for more work to be done on the systematics of C. oreganus.[9][10][5]
[edit] See also
- List of crotaline species and subspecies
- Crotalus by common name
- Crotalus by taxonomic synonyms
- Crotalinae by common name
- Crotalinae by taxonomic synonyms
- Snakebite
[edit] References
- ^ a b McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
- ^ a b c d e f Crotalus viridis (TSN 174319). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 28 November 2006.
- ^ a b Crotalus (TSN 174305). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 28 November 2006.
- ^ a b c d Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. ISBN 0-8014-0463-0.
- ^ a b c Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.
- ^ a b Klauber LM. 1997. Rattlesnakes: Their Habitats, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind. Second Edition. 2 volumes. Reprint, University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-21056-5.
- ^ Crotalus viridis at the IUCN Red List. Accessed 1 September 2007.
- ^ 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1) at the IUCN Red List. Accessed 13 September 2007.
- ^ Viperidae - Crotalinae - 2001 Publications at Wolfgang Wüster, School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University. Accessed 7 April 2008.
- ^ Pook CE, Wüster W, Thorpe RS. 2000. Historical biogeography of the western rattlesnake (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalus viridis), inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence information. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 15: 269-282. PDF at Wolfgang Wüster, School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University. Accessed 7 April 2008.
[edit] Further reading
- Ashton KG, de Queiroz A. 2001. Molecular systematics of the Western Rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis (Viperidae), with comments on the utility of the D-Loop in phylogenetic studies of snakes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 21(2):176-189.
[edit] External links
- Crotalus viridis at the TIGR Reptile Database. Accessed 12 December 2007.
- Prairie Rattlesnake - Crotalus viridis at Herpnet.net, Reptiles and Amphibians of Iowa. Accessed 15 June 2007.
