Pituophis
Encyclopedia
Pituophis is a genus
of nonvenomous colubrid
snake
s commonly referred to as gopher snakes, pine snakes, and bull snakes. Species
within the genus are found throughout the United States
and Mexico
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of nonvenomous colubrid
Colubrid
A colubrid is a member of the snake family Colubridae. This broad classification of snakes includes about two-thirds of all snake species on earth. The earliest species of the snake family date back to the Oligocene epoch. With 304 genera and 1,938 species, Colubridae is the largest snake family...
snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s commonly referred to as gopher snakes, pine snakes, and bull snakes. Species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
within the genus are found throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Species
- Gopher Snake, Pituophis cateniferPituophis cateniferPituophis catenifer is a harmless colubrid species found in North America. Six subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here. The specific name catenifer is Latin for 'chain bearing', referring to the dorsal color pattern.-Description:Adults specimens are...
- Sonoran Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer affinisPituophis catenifer affinisThe Sonoran Gopher Snake is a subspecies of the nonvenomous Gopher Snake, a colubrid found throughout the southwestern United States.-Geographic range:...
(Hallowell, 1852) - San Diego Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer annectens BairdSpencer Fullerton BairdSpencer Fullerton Baird was an American ornithologist, ichthyologist and herpetologist. Starting in 1850 he was assistant-secretary and later secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C...
& GirardCharles Frédéric GirardCharles Frédéric Girard was a French biologist specializing in ichthyology and herpetology.Born in Mulhouse, France, he studied at the College of Neuchâtel, Switzerland as a student of Louis Agassiz. In 1847, he accompanied Agassiz as his assistant to Harvard...
, 1853 - Central Baja California Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer bimaris Klauber, 1946
- Pacific Gopher SnakePacific Gopher SnakeThe Pacific Gopher Snake is a species of large colubrid snake native to the western coast of the United States.- Description :...
, Pituophis catenifer catenifer (BlainvilleHenri Marie Ducrotay de BlainvilleHenri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville was a French zoologist and anatomist.Blainville was born at Arques, near Dieppe. In about 1796 he went to Paris to study painting, but he ultimately devoted himself to natural history, and attracted the attention of Georges Cuvier, for whom he occasionally...
, 1835) - Coronado Island Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer coronalis Klauber, 1946
- Great Basin Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer deserticolaPituophis catenifer deserticolaThe Great Basin Gopher Snake is a species of small colubrid snake native to the western part of the United States. The Great Basin Gopher Snake can be found all over the west including some areas of Canada and Mexico...
StejnegerLeonhard Hess StejnegerLeonhard Hess Stejneger was a Norwegian-born American ornithologist, herpetologist and zoologist. Stejneger specialized in vertebrate natural history studies. He gained his greatest reputation with reptiles and amphibians....
, 1893 - San Martin Island Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer fulginatus Klauber, 1946
- Credos Island Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer insulanus Klauber, 1946
- Santa Cruz Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer pumilis Klauber, 1946
- Bull Snake, Pituophis catenifer sayi (SchlegelHermann SchlegelHermann Schlegel was a German ornithologist and herpetologist.-Early life and education:Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimulated Schlegel's interest in natural history...
, 1837) - Cape Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer vertebralis (BlainvilleHenri Marie Ducrotay de BlainvilleHenri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville was a French zoologist and anatomist.Blainville was born at Arques, near Dieppe. In about 1796 he went to Paris to study painting, but he ultimately devoted himself to natural history, and attracted the attention of Georges Cuvier, for whom he occasionally...
, 1835)
- Sonoran Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer affinis
- Mexican Pine Snake, Pituophis deppei
- Mexican Pine Snake, Pituophis deppei deppei (DumérilAndré Marie Constant DumérilAndré Marie Constant Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology...
, 1853) - Northern Mexican Pine Snake, Pituophis deppei jani (CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1861)
- Mexican Pine Snake, Pituophis deppei deppei (Duméril
- Middle American Gopher Snake, Pituophis lineaticollis
- Pituophis lineaticollis gibsoni Stuart, 1954
- Pituophis lineaticollis lineaticollis (CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1861)
- Pine Snake, Pituophis melanoleucusPituophis melanoleucusPituophis melanoleucus is a harmless colubrid species found in the United States. Three subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.-Description:...
- Black Pine Snake, Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi Blanchard, 1924
- Northern Pine Snake, Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus (DaudinFrançois Marie DaudinFrançois Marie Daudin was a French zoologist.With legs paralyzed by childhood disease, he studied of physics and natural history, but ended up being devoted to the latter.Daudin wrote in 1799–1800...
, 1803) - Florida Pine Snake, Pituophis melanoleucus mugitus BarbourThomas BarbourThomas Barbour was an American herpetologist. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology founded in 1859 by Louis Agassiz at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
, 1921
- Louisiana Pine Snake, Pituophis ruthveni StullOlive Griffith StullOlive Griffith Stull was an American herpetologist.Stull was born February 10, 1905, in Rochester, New York. She married Loy Davis in 1930, one year after completing her degree at the University of Michigan. She worked in the field of veterinary medicine and contributed to research in a variety of...
, 1929