Common name: Pacific gopher snake, coast gopher snake, western gopher snake,[5] more.
Pituophis catenifer is a species of nonvenomous colubridsnakeendemic to North America. Nine subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies, Pituophis catenifer catenifer, described here.[6] This snake is often mistaken for the prairie rattlesnake, but can be easily distinguished from a rattlesnake by the lack of black and white banding on its tail and by the shape of its head, which is narrower than a rattlesnake's.
Etymology
The specific name, catenifer, is Latin for "chain-bearing", referring to the dorsal color pattern.
Description
Adults are 36-84 in (91–213 cm) in length.[5]Dorsally, they are yellowish or pale brown, with a series of large, dark brown or black blotches, and smaller, dark spots on the sides. Ventrally, they are yellowish, either uniform or with brown markings.[2] They also come in several morphs depending on the subspecies.[citation needed]
Behavior
Sonoran gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer affinis), Doña Ana County, New Mexico (August 17, 2010)
The gopher snake has a unique defensive mechanism, in which it puffs up its body and curls itself into the classic strike pose of a rattlesnake. However, rather than delivering an open-mouthed strike, the gopher snake often strikes with a closed mouth, using its blunt nose to warn off possible predators. Additionally, gopher snakes vibrate their tails in a manner similar to rattlesnakes. One paper found that gopher snakes on islands lacking rattlesnakes vibrate their tails for shorter amounts of time than gopher snakes in mainland California, which is home to numerous rattlesnake species.[7] This suggests that gopher snake tail vibration may in fact be rattlesnake mimicry since the behavior appears to be breaking down in areas without rattlesnakes, perhaps because predators on these islands have no reason to evolve to avoid tail-vibrating snakes (rattlesnakes are venomous, gopher snakes are not).
Life expectancy
Wild gopher snakes typically live 12 to 15 years, but the oldest captive recorded lived over 33 years.[8]
Common names
Common names for this species, or its several subspecies, are: Pacific gopher snake, Henry snake, coast gopher snake, bullsnake, Churchill's bullsnake, Oregon bullsnake, Pacific pine snake, western bullsnake, western gopher snake, Sonoran gopher snake, western pine snake, great basin gopher snake, blow snake, and yellow gopher snake.[5]
Subspecies
As of 2022, there is largely agreement on the recognition of six subspecies occurring in Canada, USA, and mainland Mexico. However, there is not agreement among taxonomist on status of populations from Baja California and adjacent islands. The Cape gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer vertebralis) and Central Baja California gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer bimaris) are recognized by some as single species with no subspecies Pituophis vertebralis, or as a species with two subspecies Pituophis v. vertebralis and P. v. bimaris by others. Other subspecies including the Coronado Island gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer coronalis) and San Martin Island gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer fulginatus) are of questionable validity.[4][9]
Gallery
Sonoran gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer affinis) Hidalgo County, New Mexico (18 April 2017)
San Diego gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer annectens) San Luis Obispo County, California (May 9, 2009)
Pacific gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer catenifer), Alpine County, California (March 27, 2004)
Great Basin gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer deserticola), Elko County, Nevada (May 25, 2006)
Bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer sayi), Mason County, Illinois (June 13, 2018)
References
^Hammerson, G.A. (2007). "Pituophis catenifer". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007: e.T63869A12723241. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63869A12723241.en. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
^ a bBoulenger GA. 1894. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, Printers.) London. xi + 382 pp. + Plates I.- XX. ("Coluber catenifer", pp. 67-68.)
^Stejneger L, Barbour T. 1917. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press. Cambridge Massachusetts. 125 pp. (Pituophis catenifer, pp. 85-86.)
^ a bThe Reptiles Database, www.reptile-database.org.: Pituophis catenifer (BLAINVILLE, 1835) (accessed May 17, 2022)
^ a b c dWright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. 2 volumes. Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). 1,105 pp. ISBN 0-8014-0463-0. (Pituophis catenifer, pp. 588-609, Figures 171.-175., Map 46.)
^Allf, Bradley C., Sparkman, Amanda M., Pfennig, David W. "Microevolutionary change in mimicry? Potential erosion of rattling behaviour among nonvenomous snakes on islands lacking rattlesnakes" Ethology Ecology & Evolution (2020). DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2020.1837962
^Hiatt, S. "The Pituophis Page". Retrieved 7 December 2012.
^ a b c d e fStebbins, RobertC. and Samuel M. McGinnis. 2018. Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 4th ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publidhing Co. New York, N.Y. xi, 560 pp. (pages 400-402) ISBN 9781328715500
^Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956: 172–185. (page 183)
^Crother, B. I. (ed.). 2017. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43, 1–102 pp. [see page 74] ISBN 978-1-946681-00-3
^ Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles: Checklist of the Standard English Names of Amphibians & Reptiles (accessed May 15, 2022)
^Beat Schätti, Peter Heimes, Frank Tillack, Christoph Kucharzewski, and Jonatan Torres-Pérez Coeto. 2020. Pituophis deppei (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) or a reassessment of Mexican bullsnakes (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae). Vertebrate Zoology 70 (4): 483 – 545 (page 508)
Further reading
Blainville, H.D. 1835. Description de quelques espèces de reptiles de la Californie précédée de l'analyse d'un système général d'herpétologie et d'amphibiologie. Nouvelles Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle 4: 233-296. (Coluber catenifer, pp. 290–291 + Plate XXVI., Figures 2, 2A, 2B.)
External links
Data related to Pituophis catenifer at Wikispecies
Pituophis catenifer at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 4 February 2009.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pituophis catenifer.