Western patch-nosed snake Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Western patch-nosed snake

Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Genus:	Salvadora (snake)
Species:	hexalepis
Synonyms
Phimothyra hexalepis Cope, 1866 Zamenis grahamiæ Var. hexalepis — Boulenger, 1896 Salvadora hexalepis — Stejneger, 1902

Salvadora hexalepis, the western patch-nosed snake, is a species of non-venomous colubrid snake, which is endemic to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

Geographic range

It is found in the southwestern United States in the states of Arizona, southern California, Nevada, southern New Mexico, and southwestern Texas. It is also found in northern Mexico in the Mexican states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Sonora.

The following four subspecies are recognized:

Adults of Salvadora hexalepis are, on average, 20-46 inches (51–117 cm) in total length; the record total length is 58 in (150 cm).

They have a distinctive, thick scale curved back over the top of the snout, and free at the edges.

All subspecies are yellowish with blackish lateral stripes in various arrangements.

The dorsal scales are smooth, and the anal plate is divided.

The western patch-nosed snake inhabits arid deserts in its area. It feeds upon lizards, snakes, reptile eggs, and small rodents.

4-10 eggs are laid during spring or early summer and hatch in August through September.

Bogert, C.M. 1935. "Salvadora grahamiae virgultea, a new subspecies of the patch-nosed snake". Bull. Southern California Acad. Sci. 34 (1): 88-94.
Bogert, C.M. 1939. "A Study of the Genus Salvadora, the Patch-nosed Snakes". Publ. Univ. California at Los Angeles 1: 177-236.
Bogert, C.M. "Two additional races of the patch-nosed snake, Salvadora hexalepis ". American Mus. Novitates (1285): 1-14. (Salvadora hexalepis klauberi and Salvadora hexalepis mojavensis, new subspecies)
Cope, E.D. 1866. "On the REPTILIA and BATRACHIA of the Sonoran Province of the Nearctic Region". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 18: 300-314. ("Phimothyra hexalepis n. sp. nov. [sic]", p. 304.)