Sistrurus miliarius streckeri

Sistrurus miliarius streckeri is a venomous pit viper subspecies[3] found in the southcentral United States.

Sistrurus miliarius streckeri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Sistrurus
Species:
S. miliarius
Subspecies:
S. m. streckeri
Trinomial name
Sistrurus miliarius streckeri
Gloyd, 1935[1]
Common names: western pygmy rattlesnake, Strecker's pygmy rattlesnake, more.[2]

Etymology

The subspecific name, streckeri, is in honor of American naturalist John Kern Strecker.[4]

Description

Adult specimens of S. m. streckeri are 40–63 cm (16–25 in) in total length (including tail). In one study, the average length of 55 males and 49 females was 52 cm (20 in).[2]

Its color pattern is distinct and very irregular, the middorsal series of blotches being plainly wider than they are long. Along the sides there are only 1-2 series of spots, the upper ones being higher than they are wide. Any dark pigment on the belly is diffuse, the blotches there usually not being wider than one scale. This race also has the lowest number of ventral scales for the species (Gloyd, 1935).[2]

Common names

Common names for S. m. streckeri include ground rattlesnake, pygmy rattlesnake, southern pygmy rattlesnake, Strecker's pygmy rattlesnake, western ground rattlesnake, western pygmy rattlesnake.[2]

Geographic range

Sistrurus miliarius streckeri is found in the United States in Mississippi (except for southeast of the Pearl River Valley), west through Louisiana into eastern Texas, and north into southeastern and central Oklahoma, Arkansas, southern Missouri, and southwestern Tennessee. The type locality listed is "... near Imboden, Lawrence County, Arkansas" (USA).[1]

References
  1. 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).
  2. Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). 1,105 pp. ISBN 0-8014-0463-0. (Sistrurus miliarius streckeri, pp. 1057-1061, Figure 304 + Map 70 on p. 1042).
  3. "Sistrurus miliarius streckeri ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2 March 2007.
  4. 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. (Sistrurus miliarius streckeri, p. 256).

Further reading
  • Behler JL, King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp. ISBN 0-394-50824-6. (Sistrurus miliarius streckeri, p. 698 + Plate 625).
  • Conant R (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. xviii + 429 pp. + Plates 1-48. ISBN 0-395-19979-4 (hardcover), ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Sistrurus miliarius streckeri, p. 233 + Plate 35 + Map 177).
  • Conant R, Bridges W (1939). What Snake Is That?: A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains. (with 108 drawings by Edmond Malnate). New York and London: D. Appleton-Century Company. Frontispiece map + viii + 163 pp. + Plates A-C, 1-32. (Sistrurus miliarius streckeri, p. 145 + Plate 29, figure 84).
  • Gloyd HK (1935). "The Subspecies of Sistrurus miliarius ". Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan (322): 1-7. (Sistrurus miliarius streckeri, new subspecies, pp. 4–6).
  • Hubbs, Brian; O'Connor, Brendan (2012). A Guide to the Rattlesnakes and other Venomous Serpentes of the United States. Tempe, Arizona: Tricolor Books. 129 pp. ISBN 978-0-9754641-3-7. (Sistrurus miliarius streckeri, pp. 81–82).
  • Schmidt KP, Davis DD (1941). Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. (Sistrurus miliarius streckeri, pp. 289–290 + Plate 31).
  • Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3. (Sistrurus miliarius streckeri, p. 202).
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