Pituophis deppei

Pituophis deppei, commonly known as the Mexican bullsnake and the Mexican pine snake, is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to Mexico. There are two recognized subspecies.

Pituophis deppei
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Pituophis
Species:
P. deppei
Binomial name
Pituophis deppei
Synonyms[2]
  • Elaphis deppei
    A.M.C. Duméril, 1853
  • Arizona deppei
    — Cope, 1861
  • Arizona jani
    Cope, 1861
  • Pituophis deppei
    — Jan & Sordelli, 1867
  • Spilotes deppei
    — Cope, 1887
  • Coluber deppii
    — Boulenger, 1896
  • Pityophis deppei
    — Dugès, 1898
  • Pituophis deppei
    — H.M. Smith, 1944

Etymology

The specific name, deppei, is in honor of German artist Ferdinand Deppe, who collected natural history specimens in Mexico.[3]

The subspecific name, jani, is in honor of Italian herpetologist Giorgio Jan.[3]

Geographic range

P. deppei occurs in the Mexican states of Aguascalientes, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Tamaulipas.[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of P. deppei are forest, shrubland, and grassland, but it is also found in agricultural, suburban, and urban areas.[1]

Description

Dorsally, P. deppei is yellowish tan, with a series of large quadrangular blotches, which are dark brown to black. It has smaller dark spots on the sides. Ventrally, it is yellowish, with squarish brown spots. Adults may attain a total length of 1.69 m (5.5 ft), including a tail length of 18 cm (7.1 in).[4]

Reproduction

P. deppei is oviparous.[2]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.

  • Pituophis deppei deppei (A.M.C. Duméril, 1853) – southern Mexican pine snake
  • Pituophis deppei jani (Cope, 1861) – northern Mexican pine snake

References
  1. Hammerson, G.A.; Vazquez Díaz, J.; Quintero Díaz, G.E.; Flores-Villela, O. (2007). "Pituophis deppei ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007: e.T63870A12723360. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63870A12723360.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. Pituophis deppei at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 2020-06-06.
  3. 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. (Pituophis deppei, p. 70; P. d. jani, p. 133).
  4. Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I–XX. ("Coluber deppii [sic]", pp. 66–67).

Further reading
  • Duellman WE (1960). "A Taxonomic Study of the Middle American Snake, Pituophis deppei ". University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History 10 (10): 599–610.
  • Duméril [AMC] (1853). "Prodrome de la classification des reptiles ophidiens ". Mémoires de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris 23: 399–536. (Elaphis deppei, new species, p. 453). (in French).
  • Duméril A-M-C, Bibron G, Dumeril A[-H-A] (1854). Erpétologie génerale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième [Volume 7]. Première partie. Comprenant l'Histoire des serpents non venimeux. Paris: Roret. xvi + 780 pp. (Elaphis deppei, p. 268). (in French).
  • Heimes P (2016). Snakes of Mexico: Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. I. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Chimaira. 572 pp. ISBN 978-3899731002.



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