Gyalopion

Taxobox
name = "Gyalopion"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Serpentes
familia = Colubridae
genus = "Gyalopion"
genus_authority = Cope, 1860
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Gyalopion canum"
"Gyalopion quadrangulare"

"Gyalopion" is a genus of small non-venomous colubrid snakes which are commonly referred to as hooknose snakes that are native to the southwest United States and Mexico.

Taxonomy

*Western Hooknose Snake, "Gyalopion canum" (Cope, 1861)
*Desert Hooknose Snake, "Gyalopion quadrangulare"
**"Gyalopion quadrangulare desertorum" (Stebbins, 1985)
**"Gyalopion quadrangulare quadrangulare" (Günther, 1893)

Distribution & habitat

*"G. canum" - United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas) and Mexico (Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León, Michoacán, Jalisco)
*"G. quadrangulare" - United States (Arizona) and Mexico (Sonora and Sinaloa)

Hooknose snakes prefer shortgrass prairie habitats.

Description

Their base color is light brown with darker brown crossbands. Their ventral color is white or cream colored. Their most distinguishing feature is an upturned snout, which has a concave scale, as opposed to hognose snakes which have a keeled scale. They rarely grow beyond 10" in length.

Behaviour

Hooknose snakes are nocturnal and secretive snakes, generally found hiding under rocks, or buried in the soil. Their primary diet consists of spiders and centipedes. They are oviparous.

References

* [http://www.zo.utexas.edu/research/txherps/snakes/gyalopion.canum.html Herps of Texas: "Gyalopion canum"]