Biology:Chionactis

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Chionactis
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Colubrinae
Genus: Chionactis
Cope, 1860[1]
Synonyms

Contia, Lamprosoma, Rhinostoma, Sonora[2]

Chionactis is a genus of snakes known as the shovelnose (or shovel-nosed) snakes. It contains only two recognized species.[3]

Geographic range

The genus Chionactis is endemic to the southwestern United States and adjacent northwestern Mexico.[4]

Species and subspecies

The following species and subspecies are recognized as being valid.[4][5]

  • Chionactis occipitalis (Hallowell, 1854) – Western shovelnose snake
    • C. o. klauberi (Stickel, 1941) – Tucson shovelnose snake
    • C. o. occipitalis (Hallowell, 1854) – Mojave shovelnose snake
    • C. o. talpina Klauber, 1951 – Nevada shovelnose snake
  • Chionactis annulata (Baird, 1859) – Colorado Desert shovelnose snake
  • Chionactis palarostris (Klauber, 1937) – Sonoran shovelnose snake
    • C. p. organica Klauber, 1951 – Organ Pipe shovelnose snake
    • C. p. palarostris (Klauber, 1937) – Sonoran shovel nose snake

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

References

  1. Stickel, William H. (October 19, 1943). "The Mexican snakes of the genera Sonora and Chionactis with notes on the status of other colubrid genera". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 56: 109–128. http://www.biodiversityheritagelibrary.org/page/34564621#page/143/mode/1up. Retrieved July 22, 2015. 
  2. Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes). (Genus Chionactis, p. 120).
  3. Smith, Hobart M.; Brodie, Jr., Edmund D. (2014). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1582381237.  240 pp.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Stebbins RC. 2003. A Field Guide to Western Amphibians and Reptiles. Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. 533 pp. ISBN:978-0-395-98272-3. (Chionactis species and subspecies, pp. 393-395 + Plate 45 + Maps 171, 172).
  5. "Chionactis ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.

Further reading

  • Cope ED. 1860. "Catalogue of Colubridæ in the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with notes and descriptions of new species. Part 2". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 12: 241-266. (Chionactis, new genus, p. 241).
  • Klauber LM. 1951. "The shovel-nosed snake, Chionactis, with descriptions of two new subspecies". Trans. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist. 11 (9): 141-204.

Wikidata ☰ Q2388876 entry