| Ficimia streckeri | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Subfamily: | Colubrinae |
| Genus: | Ficimia |
| Species: | F. streckeri |
| Binomial name | |
| Ficimia streckeri Taylor, 1931 |
|
Ficimia streckeri, commonly known as the Mexican hooknose snake or Tamaulipan hooknose snake, is a small species of colubrid snake. The epithet, streckeri, is in honor of the American naturalist John Kern Strecker, Jr.
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It is found primarily in the Mexican states of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí and Puebla, but its range extends as far north as the United States, in southern Texas.
The Mexican hooknose snake is capable of attaining lengths of 5 to 11 in (13 to 28 cm). It is typically brown or gray in color, with as many as 60 brown or brown-green blotches down the back which are elongated to almost appear as stripes. Its underside is white or cream-colored. Its most distinctive feature is an upturned snout, much like hognose snakes, which gives it its common name. However, unlike hognose snakes, Mexican hooknose snakes have smooth dorsal scales. Also distinctive is the arrangement of the head shields. There are no internasals, and the rostral separates the prefrontals and contacts the frontal.[1]
The Mexican hooknose snake is mostly nocturnal, and its diet consists primarily of spiders and centipedes. They inhabit woodlands along the Rio Grande river plain, near natural and man-made sources of water. It is fairly slow moving and harmless to humans. Its primary form of defense is making a popping sound by expanding its cloaca when harassed or handled. Mexican hooknose snakes are oviparous.
Taylor, E.H. 1931. Notes on two Specimens of the rare Snake Ficimia cana and the description of a new Species of Ficimia from Texas. Copeia, 1931, pp. 4-7.
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