Combinations

• Boa contortrix Linnaeus, 1766: 373 [original combination]
• Scytale contortrix — Latreille, 1802: 159 [subsequent combination]
• Trigonocephalus contortrix — Holbrook, 1838: 69 [subsequent combination]
• Cenchris contortrix — Gray, 1842: 50 [subsequent combination]
• Agkistrodon contortrix — Baird & Girard, 1853: 17 [subsequent combination]
• Ancistrodon contortrix — Baird, 1854: 13 [subsequent combination]

Synonyms

• Agkistrodon mokasen Palisot de Beauvois, 1799: 370
  • Type material: unknown.
  • Type locality: not stated.

• Cenchris mokason Daudin, 1803: 358
  • Type material: unknown.
  • Type locality: “Philadelphia”, restricted to “vicinity of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania”.

• Scytalus cupreus Rafinesque, 1818: 85
  • Type material: unknown.
  • Neotype: UMMZ 81758.
  • Type locality: not stated, designated by neotype designation to “2 miles south of Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York”.

• Cenchris marmorata Boie, 1827: 562
  • Type material: unknown.
  • Type locality: not stated.

• Acontias atro-fuscus Troost, 1836: 181
  • Holotype: unknown.
  • Type locality: “Maury county, Tenn. [=Tennessee]”.

• Trigonocephalus cenchris Schlegel, 1837: 553
  • Type material: unknown.
  • Type locality: “habite les provinces méridionales des États-Unis de l'Amérique du Nord”.

• Trigonocephalus histrionicus Duméril, 1853: 534
  • Type material: unknown.
  • Type locality: not stated.

• Agkistrodon mokason austrinus Goyd & Conant, 1945: 153
  • Holotype: CHAS 5089, adult ♀, collected by Percy Viosca Jr. in 1933.
  • Type locality: “Gentilly, Orleans Parish, Louisiana”.

• Agkistrodon contortrix phaeogaster Gloyd, 1969: 220
  • Holotype: USNM 165955, adult ♂, received from Henry S. Fitch in July 1960.
  • Type locality: “10 miles south of McLouth, Jefferson County, Kansas”.

Primary references

• Linnaeus, C. 1766. Systema naturae sive regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae. 12th ed. v. 1 (pt 1): 1–532. BHL Reference page. 

• Palisot de Beauvois, M. 1799. Memoir on Amphibia. Serpents. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 4: 362–381. BHL Reference page. 

• Daudin, F.M. 1803. Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, des reptiles : ouvrage faisant suite à l'Histoire naturelle générale et particulière, composée par Leclerc de Buffon, et rédigée par C.S. Sonnini. Tome Cinquième. L'Imprimerie de F. Dufart: Paris. 365 pp. + plates LIX–LXX. BHL Reference page. 

• Rafinesque, C.S. 1818. Natural History of the Scytalus Cupreus, or Copper-head Snake. American Journal of Science 1: 84–86. BHL Reference page. 

• Boie, F. 1827. Bemerkungen über Merrem’s Versuch eines Systems der Amphibien. Marburg, 1820. 1te Lieferung, Ophidier. Isis von Oken 20(6): 508–566. BHL Reference page. 

• Troost, G. 1836. On a new genus of serpents, and two new species of the genus Heterodon, inhabiting Tennessee. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York 3: 174–190. BHL Reference page. 

• Schlegel, H. 1837. Essai sur la physionomie des serpens. Partie Descriptive. Volume 2. M.H. Schonekat: Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 606 pp. BHL Reference page.  

• Duméril, A.M.C. 1853. Prodrome de la classification des reptiles ophidiens. Mémoires de l'Académie de Sciences de l'Institut de France 23: 399–536. BHL Reference page. 

• Gloyd, H.K. & Conant, R. 1943. A synopsis of the American forms of Agkistrodon (copperheads and moccasins). Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 7(2): 147–170. Reference page. 

• Gloyd, H.K. 1969. Two additional subspecies of North American crotalid snakes, genus Agkistrodon. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 82(1): 219–232. BHL Reference page. 

Additional references

• Burbrink, F.T. & Guiher, T.J. 2015. Considering gene flow when using coalescent methods to delimit lineages of North American pitvipers of the genus Agkistrodon. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 173(2): 505–526. DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12211 Reference page. 

Links

• Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2022. Agkistrodon contortrix. The Reptile Database. Accessed on 21 May 2021.
• Frost, D.R., Hammerson, G.A. & Santos-Barrera, G. 2007. IUCN: Agkistrodon contortrix  (Least Concern). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2007: e.T64297A12756101. DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T64297A12756101.en