drm document security copy protection
drm
Reptiles of the United States  
  Home Email Site map
A Guide to the Reptiles &
Amphibians of the United States
Home snakes lizards Turtles turtles salamanders
Snakes of the U.S.



Colorado Desert Shovelnose Snake Range Map






Colorado Desert Shovelnose Snake Video




Colorado Desert Shovelnose Snake Juvenile

Home »» Snakes »» Colubridae (Colubrids) »» Desert Shovelnose Snakes »» Colorado Desert Shovelnose Snake (Sonora annulata annulata)


Colorado Desert Shovelnose Snake (Sonora annulata annulataSTATUS





Description: Adults are 11 - 17 inches long. A small rounded snake with smooth, unkeeled, shiny scales. The head is narrow with a large spade-like scale on the tip of a flat shovel-like snout, a countersunk lower jaw, and nasal valves. The ground color is cream or yellowish and the body is circled with black bands, usually fewer than 25, and most often with narrow red crossbands between them. Many black bands completely encircle the body.


Habitat: Inhabits dry desert habitats with loose sand and often with little vegetation - washes, dunes, sandy flats, rocky hillsides.


Range: This subspecies, Chionactis annulata annulata - Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake, is found in extreme southeastern California, east of the desert slope of the peninsular range to the Colorado River. Outside of California, it ranges south into Baja California and northern Sonora, Mexico, and east into southwestern Arizona.


Found in these States: AZ | CA


Diet: Eats invertebrates: insects, scorpions, spiders, centipedes, larval insects and moths, often while the snake is burrowing.


Reproduction: Females are oviparous, laying eggs late spring through summer.


Status: Data not available.


Taxonomy:

»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
   »» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
     »» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
       »» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
         »» Order: Squamata - Scaled Reptiles
           »» Suborder: Serpentes
             »» Superfamily: Colubroidea
               »» Family: Colubridae - Colubrids
                   »» Genus: Sonora
                     »» Species: Sonora annulata - Desert Shovelnose Snake
                       »» Subspecies: S. a. annulata - Colorado Desert Shovelnose Snake

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sonora annulata", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.

 

 

 

 

Recommended Books about Reptiles & Amphibians at Amazon.com


Amazon Code Here

 

 
 

Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 

Copyright © 2008 - Herpedia™.com