Western ground snake

Western ground snake

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Sonora
Species:	S. semiannulata
Binomial name
*Sonora semiannulata* Baird and Girard, 1853
Synonyms^[1]^[2]
Sonora semiannulata Baird and Girard, 1853 Lamprosoma episcopum Kennicott in Baird, 1859 Homalosoma episcopum — Jan, 1865 Contia isozona Cope, 1866 Contia episcopa isozona — Cope,1880 Contia taylori Boulenger, 1894 Chionactis episcopus isozonus — Cope, 1900 Sonora miniata linearis Stickel, 1938 Sonora semiannulata — Liner, 1994

The western ground snake (Sonora semiannulata) is a species of small, harmless colubrid snake. The species is endemic to North America. It is sometimes referred to as the common ground snake or variable ground snake as its patterning and coloration can vary widely, even within the same geographic region.^[3]

Geographic range

S. semiannulata is native to the Southwestern United States, in Arizona, Nevada, California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah, as well as northern Mexico, in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, and Sonora.

Description

The western ground snake can grow to a total length (including tail) of 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 cm). The color and pattern can vary widely. Individuals can be brown, red, or orange, with black banding, orange or brown striping, or be solid-colored. The underside is typically white or gray. It has smooth dorsal scales, a small head, and the pupil of the eye is round.

Habitat

The preferred habitat of S. semiannulata is dry, rocky areas with loose soil.

Behavior

The western ground snakes is typically nocturnal and secretive, but it is common throughout its range. It is often found on roadsides, or in dry drainage ditches at night, foraging for food.

Diet

The diet of S. semiannulata consists primarily of invertebrates, such as spiders, scorpions, centipedes, crickets, and insect larvae.

Reproduction

The western ground snake is oviparous, breeding and laying eggs through the summer months.

Taxonomy

Sonora semiannulata was once broken up into five separate subspecies, based on the vast differences in color and patterning that the species displays, but recent research has shown that the various colors and patterns of ground snake interbreed indiscriminately, making distinction between them impossible and thus not warranting subspecies status, though some sources still refer to them, using geography as a basis rather than morphology.

References

↑ "Sonora semiannulata ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
↑ Stejneger, L., and T. Barbour. 1917. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. 125 pp. (Sonora, p. 92.)
↑ Stebbins, R.C. 2003. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guides Series ®. Houghton Mifflin. Boston and New York. xiii + 533 pp. ISBN 0-395-98272-3. (Sonora semiannulata, pp. 391–393 + Plate 45 + Map 170).