Western ground snake

For the snake endemic to Ecuador also called Western ground snake, see Atractus occidentalis.

Western ground snake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Sonora
Species:
S. semiannulata
Binomial name
Sonora semiannulata
Baird and Girard, 1853
Synonyms[2][3]
  • Sonora semiannulata
    Baird and Girard, 1853
  • Lamprosoma episcopum
    Kennicott in Baird, 1859
  • Homalosoma episcopum
    — Jan, 1865
  • Contia isozona
    Cope, 1866
  • Contia episcopa isozona
    — Cope,1880
  • Contia taylori
    Boulenger, 1894
  • Chionactis episcopus isozonus
    — Cope, 1900
  • Sonora miniata linearis
    Stickel, 1938
  • Sonora semiannulata
    — Liner, 1994

The western ground snake (Sonora semiannulata) is a species of small, harmless colubrid snake. The species is endemic to North America. Its patterning and coloration can vary widely, even within the same geographic region.[4] Another common name is miter snake referring to the head marking which suggests a bishop's miter; the synonym "episcopus " (Latin for "bishop") is a similar allusion.

  1. ^ Frost, D.R.; Hammerson, G.A.; Santos-Barrera, G. (2007). "Sonora semiannulata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007: e.T63925A12728616. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63925A12728616.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Sonora semiannulata ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ^ Stejneger, L., and T. Barbour (1917). A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 125 pp. (Sonora, p. 92).
  4. ^ Stebbins, R.C. (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guides Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. xiii + 533 pp. ISBN 0-395-98272-3. (Sonora semiannulata, pp. 391–393 + Plate 45 + Map 170).