Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Northwestern Ringneck Snake, Ring-Necked Snake, Ringneck Snake
Description
Family Colubridae
The family Colubridae, which includes the kingsnakes (Lampropeltis spp. ), is the largest, most widespread, and diverse family of snakes , with few physical characteristics universal among all species. The family contains 70 percent of the known species of snakes, with more than 1700 species worldwide (Pough et al. 1998). Although some colubrids are dangerously venomous , most are harmless to humans. [2]
Subfamily Dipsadinae
These snakes are the New World counterparts of the Pareinae and resemble them in appearance and habits. They live in tropical America.
Physical Description
Species Diadophis punctatus occidentalis
A small, thin snake with smooth scales . Gray, blue-gray, blackish, or dark olive dorsal coloring, with a bright orange to reddish underside, lightly speckled with black markings, heavily speckled under the chin. The underside of the tail is a bright reddish orange. A narrow orange band around the neck, 1.5 - 3 scale rows wide.[1]
Size/Age/Growth
8 - 34 inches long (20 - 87cm.) Snakes of this subspecies are adult at around 11 - 18 inches (28 -46 cm.)[1]
Habitat
Prefers moist habitats , including wet meadows, rocky hillsides, gardens, farmland, grassland, chaparral , coniferous forests , mixed woodlands.[1]
Biology
Diet
Eats slender salamanders and other small salamanders, tadpoles , small frogs , small snakes , lizards, worms, slugs, and insects. The mild venom may help to incapacitate prey .[1]
Reproduction
Lays eggs in the summer, sometimes in a communal nest .[1]
Behavior
Secretive - usually found under the cover of rocks, wood , bark , boards and other surface debris , but occasionally seen moving on the surface on cloudy days, at dusk, or at night. When disturbed , coils its tail like a corkscrew, exposing the underside which is usually bright red. It may also smear musk and cloacal contents.[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
()
- (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
()
- Grobben, 1908
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
()
- (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum:
Chordata
()
- Bateson, 1885
- Chordates
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
()
- Cuvier, 1812
- Vertebrates
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
()
- Auct.
- Jawed Vertebrates
- Superclass:
Tetrapoda
()
- Goodrich, 1930
- Class:
Reptilia
()
- Reptiles
- Subclass:
Diapsida
()
- Infraclass:
Lepidosauromorpha
()
- Superorder:
Lepidosauria
()
-
- Order:
Squamata
()
- Suborder:
Serpentes
()
- (C. Linnaeus, 1758)
- Superfamily:
Colubroidea
()
- Family:
Colubridae
()
- Colubrids
- Subfamily:
Dipsadinae
()
- Genus:
Diadophis
()
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Specific name:
punctatus subsp. pulchellus
- Baird and Girard 1853
- Subspecies:
occidentalis
- Scientific name: - Diadophis punctatus occidentalis Baird and Girard 1853
- Subspecies:
occidentalis
- Specific name:
punctatus subsp. pulchellus
- Baird and Girard 1853
- Genus:
Diadophis
(
- Subfamily:
Dipsadinae
(
- Family:
Colubridae
(
- Superfamily:
Colubroidea
(
- Suborder:
Serpentes
(
- Order:
Squamata
(
- Superorder:
Lepidosauria
(
- Infraclass:
Lepidosauromorpha
(
- Subclass:
Diapsida
(
- Class:
Reptilia
(
- Superclass:
Tetrapoda
(
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
(
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
(
- Phylum:
Chordata
(
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
(
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
(
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
. Latest taxonomic
scrutiny: Uetz P.
Many herpetologists no longer
recognize the traditional morphologically-based subspecies
of Diadophis punctatus, pending a thorough molecular study of the whole species. One ongoing study (Feldman and Spicer, 2006, Mol. Ecol. 15:2201-2222) has found all of the D. punctatus subspecies in California (except D. p. regalis) to be indistinguishable. It is likely that D. punctatus is composed of several distinct
lineages
that do not follow the geographic ranges
of the subspecies.[1]
Similar Species
Members of the genus Diadophis
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 31 species and subspecies in this genus:
D. amabilis · D. amabilis occidentalis · D. amabilis similis · D. anuyi · D. arnyi · D. baliodeirus · D. bipunctatus · D. elinorae · D. lecontei · D. pulchellus · D. punctatus (San Bernardino Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus acricus (Key Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus amabilis (Pacific Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus anthonyi · D. punctatus arnyi (Prairie Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus dugesii · D. punctatus edwardsi · D. punctatus edwardsii (Northern Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus modestus (San Bernardino Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus occidentalis (Northwestern Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus pulchellus (Coralbelly Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus punctatus (Southern Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus regalis (Regal Ringsnake Snake) · D. punctatus similis (San Diego Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus stictogenys (Mississippi Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus vandenburghi (Monterey Ringneck Snake) · D. punctatus vandenburghii · D. punctatus vandenburgii · D. regalis · D. regalis arizonae · D. regalis blanchardi
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Bartlett, R.D. , and Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000.
- Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
- Brown et. al. Reptiles of Washington and Oregon. Seattle Audubon Society,1995.
- Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997.
- Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, and Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
- Fontanella , Frank M., Chris R. Feldman, Mark E. Siddall, and Frank T. Burbrink. Phylogeography of Diadophis punctatus: Extensive lineage diversity and repeated patterns of historical demography in a trans-continental snake. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46 (2008) 1049 1070. 2008.
- Nussbaum, R. A., E. D. Brodie Jr., and R. M. Storm. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. Moscow, Idaho: University Press of Idaho, 1983.
- St. John, Alan D. Reptiles of the Northwest: Alaska to California; Rockies to the Coast. Lone Pine Publishing, 2002.
- Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
- Wright, Albert Hazen and Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press.
Notes
Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 4, 2006.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 14, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 2 providers.
- Nafis, Gary. California Reptiles and Amphibians. Accessed June 23, 2009.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2547986
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-9672
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13515684
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 209173
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 415348
Footnotes
- Nafis, Gary. California Reptiles and Amphibians [back]
- Painter, Charles W., Chuck L. Hayes, and James N. Stuart "Recovery and Conservation of the Gray-Banded Kingsnake. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. May 1, 2002. [back]
Curator for this page: Juan Pablo Hurtado. Date last reviewed: 1899-12-30
