- Crotalus oreganus helleri
-
Crotalus oreganus helleri 
Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Viperidae Subfamily: Crotalinae Genus: Crotalus Species: C. oreganus Subspecies: C. o. helleri Trinomial name Crotalus oreganus helleri
Meek, 1905Synonyms - Crotalus helleri - Meek, 1905
- Crotalus viridis helleri - Klauber, 1949[1]
Crotalus oreganus helleri is a venomous pitviper subspecies[2] found in South-West California and south into Baja California.
Contents
Description
Adults are 24-55 inches (61-139 cm) in length.[3]
C. o. helleri
The color pattern consists of a pale brown, gray-brown, or yellowish brown ground color overlaid with a series of large, dark brown dorsal blotches that may or may not have pale centers.[4] The blotches are more diamond shaped, as opposed to those of C. o. oreganus that are more hexagonal,[3] and are bordered by light scales. The tail rings are not clearly defined.[5] In juveniles, the end of the tail is bright orange, but this turns to brown as the snakes mature. In adults, the base of the tail and the first segment of the rattle are brown. The postocular stripe is moderately to very clearly defined. In juveniles, this stripe is bodered above by a pale stripe, but as the snakes mature this turns to drab yellow or brown. A conspicuous pale crossbar is sometimes present across the supraoculars, after which the head is a uniform dark color. In some older snakes the head is mostly dark with almost no trace of the supraorbital crossbar, or none at all.[4]
Common names
Southern Pacific rattlesnake,[2][3] black diamond rattlesnake, black (diamond) rattler, gray diamond-back, mountain rattler, Pacific rattler, San Diegan rattler, timber rattler.[3]
Geographic range
C. o. helleri, juvenile.The United States in southern California, and Mexico in northern Baja California, west of the desert. In the north from the counties of San Luis Obispo and Kern, and south through the counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles (including Santa Catalina Island), southwestern San Bernardino, Orange, western Riverside, San Diego and extreme western Imperial. From there its range extends south though Baja California to lat. 28° 30' North.[6] According to Klauber (1956), the type locality is "San Jose, Lower California" [San José, lat. 31° N, Baja California (state), Mexico].[1]
See also
- List of crotaline species and subspecies
- Crotalus by common name
- Crotalus by taxonomic synonyms
- Crotalinae by common name
- Crotalinae by taxonomic synonyms
- Snakebite
References
- ^ a b McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
- ^ a b c "Crotalus oreganus helleri". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=683065. Retrieved 28 November 2006.
- ^ a b c d e Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. ISBN 0-8014-0463-0.
- ^ a b Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. 2 volumes. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.
- ^ Behler JL, King FW. 1979. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp. LCCCN 79-2217. ISBN 0-394-50824-6.
- ^ Klauber LM. 1997. Rattlesnakes: Their Habitats, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind. Second Edition. First published in 1956, 1972. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-21056-5.
Further reading
External links
- Crotalus oreganus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 12 December 2007.
Categories:- Crotalus
- Reptiles of the United States
- Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands
- Fauna of the Baja California Peninsula
- Fauna of the Western United States
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
