West Coast garter snake

The West Coast garter snake (Thamnophis validus) is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Mexico. Four subspecies are recognized.

West Coast garter snake

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Thamnophis
Species:
T. validus
Binomial name
Thamnophis validus
Synonyms[2]
  • Regina valida
    Kennicott, 1860
  • Tropidonotus validus
    — Boulenger, 1893
  • Natrix valida
    — Van Denburgh, 1895
  • Nerodia valida
    — Stebbins, 1985
  • Thamnophis validus
    — A. de Queiroz & Lawson, 1994

Geographic range

T. validus is found in the Mexican states of Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Jalisco, and Sonora.[2]

Reproduction

T. validus is viviparous.[2]

Subspecies

There are four subspecies of T. validus which are recognized as being valid, including the nominate subspecies.[2]

  • Mexican Pacific Lowlands garter snake (T. v. celaeno) (Cope, 1861)
  • T. v. isabelleae (Conant, 1953)
  • T. v. thamnophisoides (Conant, 1961)
  • T. v. validus (Kennicott, 1860)

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Thamnophis.

Etymology

The subspecific name isabelleae is in honor of the American wildlife artist Isabelle Hunt Conant, the wife of the American herpetologist Roger Conant.[3]

gollark: > got auth left back a while agoHIGHLY uncool.
gollark: I live in the UK and am libcenter-leaning-vaguely-rightish.
gollark: Nope!
gollark: Alcohöl is uncool, but I do generally agree with less government stuff-doing.
gollark: So, dissolve all humans in alcohol. Interesting.

References
  1. Ponce-Campos P, García Aguayo A (2007). "Thamnophis valida ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  2. Species Thamnophis validus at The Reptile Database
  3. Conant (1953).

Further reading
  • Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Tropidonotus validus, pp. 237-238).
  • Conant R (1953). "Three New Water Snakes of the Genus [Natrix] from Mexico". Natural History Miscellanea (126): 1–9. (Natrix valida isabelleae, new subspecies, pp. 7-9).
  • Conant R (1961). "A New Water Snake from Mexico, with Notes on Anal Plates and Apical Pits in Natrix and Thamnophis ". American Museum Novitates (2060): 1-22. (Natrix valida thamnophisoides, new subspecies, pp. 2-12, Figure 1).
  • Cope ED (1861). "Notes and descriptions of new and little known species of American Reptiles". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 12: 339–345. (Tropidonotus celaeno, new species, p. 341).
  • Kennicott R (1860). "Descriptions of New Species of North American Serpents in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 12: 328–338. (Regina valida, new species, pp. 334-335).



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