Crotalus stejnegeri

Crotalus stejnegeri is a venomous pit viper species in the family Viperidae. The species is native to western Mexico. There are no recognized subspecies.[4]

Crotalus stejnegeri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Crotalus
Species:
C. stejnegeri
Binomial name
Crotalus stejnegeri
Dunn, 1919[2]
Common name: long-tailed rattlesnake[3]

Etymology

The specific name, stejnegeri, is in honor of Leonhard Stejneger, herpetologist at the Smithsonian Institution for over 60 years.[5][6]

Description

Adults of C. stejnegeri do not usually grow to more than 60 cm (24 in) in total length (including tail). The greatest total length recorded for a specimen is 72.4 cm (28.5 in)[7]. The tail is relatively long, representing 11.0-14.8% of the total length of adult male snakes and 9.8-12.5% in females. Klauber (1940) suggested that since the rattle is tiny, it is probably not audible. A very rare species, there have only been 12 specimens found.[3]

Geographic range and habitat

C. stejnegeri is found in western Mexico in the mountains and foothills of eastern Sinaloa, western Durango, and probably northern Nayarit, between 500 and 1,200 metres (1,600 and 3,900 ft) in altitude. The type locality given is "Plumosas [Plomosas], Sinaloa, Mexico".[2] It occurs in pine-oak forest, subtropical dry forest, and tropical deciduous forest.[2]

Conservation status

C. stejnegeri is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species with the following criteria: B1ab(iii) (v3.1, 2001).[1] A species is listed as such when the best available evidence indicates its extent of occurrence is estimated to be less than 20,000 km2 (7,720 mi2), estimates indicate it is severely fragmented or known to exist at no more than 10 locations, and a continuing decline has been observed, inferred, or projected in its area, extent, and/or quality of habitat. Therefore, it is considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. The population trend was down when assessed in 2007.[8]

References
  1. Mendoza-Quijano F (2007). "Crotalus stejnegeri ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2007: e.T64333A12771355. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T64333A12771355.en. Downloaded on 13 June 2020.
  2. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  3. Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp., 1,500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.
  4. "Crotalus stejnegeri ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  5. "Crotalus stejnegeri ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  6. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Crotalus stejnegeri, p. 252).
  7. Collins, Joseph T. (1982). "Crotalus stejnegeri Longtail rattlesnake". Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (pp. 303.1-303.2) https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/45219/0303_Crotalus_stejnegeri.pdf?sequence=1
  8. 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1) at the IUCN Red List. Accessed 13 September 2007.

Further reading



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