Masticophis
Encyclopedia
Masticophis is a genus
of colubrid
snake
s that are commonly referred to as whip snakes or coachwhips. They are characterized by having a long, thin body and are not dangerous.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of colubrid
Colubrid
A colubrid is a member of the snake family Colubridae. This broad classification of snakes includes about two-thirds of all snake species on earth. The earliest species of the snake family date back to the Oligocene epoch. With 304 genera and 1,938 species, Colubridae is the largest snake family...
snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s that are commonly referred to as whip snakes or coachwhips. They are characterized by having a long, thin body and are not dangerous.
Species
- Clarion Island Whip Snake, Masticophis anthonyi (StejnegerLeonhard Hess StejnegerLeonhard Hess Stejneger was a Norwegian-born American ornithologist, herpetologist and zoologist. Stejneger specialized in vertebrate natural history studies. He gained his greatest reputation with reptiles and amphibians....
, 1901) - Baja California Striped Whip Snake, Masticophis aurigulus
- Masticophis aurigulus aurigulus (CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1861) - Masticophis aurigulus barbouri (Van DenburghJohn Van DenburghJohn Van Denburgh was a U.S. herpetologist from California.He was born in San Francisco and enrolled at Stanford University in 1891. As of 1895, he organized the herpetology department of the California Academy of Sciences. In 1897 he got a Ph.D. from Stanford University. Additionally, he got an M.D...
& Slevin, 1921)
- Masticophis aurigulus aurigulus (Cope
- Sonoran Whip Snake, Masticophis bilineatus
- Masticophis bilineatus bilineatus JanGiorgio JanGiorgio Jan was an Italian taxonomist, zoologist, botanist, herpetologist, and writer. He is also known as Georg Jan or Georges Jan....
, 1863 - Masticophis bilineatus slevini (LoweCharles Herbert LoweCharles Herbert Lowe, Jr was a U.S. biologist and herpetologist.Lowe was born in Los Angeles, California. After college he served during World War II as a U.S. Navy Ensign in the Pacific. In 1946, he enrolled at UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in 1950...
& Norris, 1955)
- Masticophis bilineatus bilineatus Jan
- Coachwhip, Masticophis flagellumMasticophis flagellumMasticophis flagellum is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snakes commonly referred to as coachwhips or whip snakes, with seven recognized subspecies.- Geographical range :...
- Sonoran Coachwhip, Masticophis flagellum cingulum LoweCharles Herbert LoweCharles Herbert Lowe, Jr was a U.S. biologist and herpetologist.Lowe was born in Los Angeles, California. After college he served during World War II as a U.S. Navy Ensign in the Pacific. In 1946, he enrolled at UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in 1950...
& Woodin, 1954 - Eastern Coachwhip, Masticophis flagellum flagellum (ShawGeorge ShawGeorge Shaw was an English botanist and zoologist.Shaw was born at Bierton, Buckinghamshire and was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, receiving his M.A. in 1772. He took up the profession of medical practitioner. In 1786 he became the assistant lecturer in botany at Oxford University...
, 1802) - Baja California Coachwhip, Masticophis flagellum fuliginosus (CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1895) - Lined Coachwhip, Masticophis flagellum lineatulus Smith, 1941
- Red Coachwhip, Masticophis flagellum piceus (CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1892) - San Joaquin Coachwhip, Masticophis flagellum ruddocki Brattstrom & Warren, 1953
- Western Coachwhip, Masticophis flagellum testaceus (SayThomas SayThomas Say was an American naturalist, entomologist, malacologist, herpetologist and carcinologist. A taxonomist, he is often considered to be the father of descriptive entomology in the United States. He described more than 1,000 new species of beetles and over 400 species of insects of other...
, 1823)
- Sonoran Coachwhip, Masticophis flagellum cingulum Lowe
- California WhipsnakeCalifornia WhipsnakeThe Alameda Whipsnake , aka Striped Racer, is a colubrid snake of the California coast and foothills. It is 90–120 cm long, slender, with two yellowish stripes along its back, set against a dark brown or black back. It is fast-moving, diurnal, and an active forager...
, Masticophis lateralis- Alameda Striped Racer, Masticophis lateralis euryxanthus Riemer, 1954
- California Striped Racer, Masticophis lateralis lateralis (Hallowell, 1853)
- Ajo Mountain Whip Snake, Masticophis lineolatus (Hensley, 1950)
- Neotropical Whip Snake, Masticophis mentovarius
- Masticophis mentovarius centralis (RozeJanis RozeJanis A. Roze, Ph.D., born in Latvia, is a herpetologist and Professor of Biology Emeritus of City College and Graduate School of the City University of New York. He was professionally associated with the American Museum of Natural History and the United Nations...
, 1953) - Masticophis mentovarius mentovarius (DumérilAndré Marie Constant DumérilAndré Marie Constant Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology...
, BibronGabriel BibronGabriel Bibron was a French zoologist. He was born in Paris. Son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was hired to collect vertebrates in Italy and Sicily. He classified a number of reptile species with André Marie Constant...
& DumérilAuguste DumérilAuguste Henri André Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of Herpetology and Ichthyology at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris from 1857. His father André Marie Constant Duméril was also a zoologist...
, 1854) - Masticophis mentovarius suborbitalis (PetersWilhelm PetersWilhelm Karl Hartwich Peters was a German naturalist and explorer.He was assistant to Johannes Peter Müller and later curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum. In September 1842 he travelled to Mozambique via Angola. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens...
, 1868) - Masticophis mentovarius striolatus (MertensRobert MertensRobert Mertens was a German herpetologist. The Robert Mertens' day gecko is a species named after him, and he also postulated Mertensian mimicry....
, 1934) - Masticophis mentovarius variolosus Smith, 1943
- Masticophis mentovarius centralis (Roze
- Schott's Whip Snake, Masticophis schotti
- Ruthven's Whip Snake, Masticophis schotti ruthveni Ortenburger, 1923
- Schott's Whip Snake, Masticophis schotti schotti BairdSpencer Fullerton BairdSpencer Fullerton Baird was an American ornithologist, ichthyologist and herpetologist. Starting in 1850 he was assistant-secretary and later secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C...
& GirardCharles Frédéric GirardCharles Frédéric Girard was a French biologist specializing in ichthyology and herpetology.Born in Mulhouse, France, he studied at the College of Neuchâtel, Switzerland as a student of Louis Agassiz. In 1847, he accompanied Agassiz as his assistant to Harvard...
, 1853
- Striped WhipsnakeStriped WhipsnakeThe Striped Whipsnake is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake that is closely related to the California Whipsnake . It is native to the western United States and northern Mexico....
, Masticophis taeniatus- Masticophis taeniatus australis Smith, 1941
- Central Texas Whip Snake, Masticophis taeniatus girardi (StejnegerLeonhard Hess StejnegerLeonhard Hess Stejneger was a Norwegian-born American ornithologist, herpetologist and zoologist. Stejneger specialized in vertebrate natural history studies. He gained his greatest reputation with reptiles and amphibians....
& BarbourThomas BarbourThomas Barbour was an American herpetologist. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology founded in 1859 by Louis Agassiz at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
, 1917) - Ornate Whip Snake, Masticophis taeniatus ornatus BairdSpencer Fullerton BairdSpencer Fullerton Baird was an American ornithologist, ichthyologist and herpetologist. Starting in 1850 he was assistant-secretary and later secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C...
& GirardCharles Frédéric GirardCharles Frédéric Girard was a French biologist specializing in ichthyology and herpetology.Born in Mulhouse, France, he studied at the College of Neuchâtel, Switzerland as a student of Louis Agassiz. In 1847, he accompanied Agassiz as his assistant to Harvard...
, 1853 - Desert Striped Whip Snake, Masticophis taeniatus taeniatus (Hallowell, 1852)