Description: Adults of C. stephensi are 23 to 52 inches in total length (including tail), with an average of 24 to 36 inches. This species is characterized by the absence of the vertical light line on the posterior edge of the prenasal and first supralabial scales. The supraocular scales are pitted, sutured, or with the outer edges broken. The color pattern consists of a straw, tan, buff, brown, or gray ground color, overlaid with a series of buff, gray, brown, or deep red-brown blotches. Often, gray suffusions occur on the sides of the body and head, and a scattering of black-tipped scales occur on the back, especially at the edges of the blotches.
Habitat: Typical habitat includes canyons, foothills, buttes, and erosion gullies of rocky desert areas; sometimes this snake ranges away from rocks into sandy arroyos or onto desert flats with shrubs and animal burrows for cover. Vegetation may include various shrubs or pinyon-juniper woodland. This is a terrestrial species that occasionally climbs into low vegetation. When inactive, it occurs under rocks or bushes or in crevices, caves, abandoned mines, or animal burrows.
Range:Crotalus stephensi is found in desert-mountain areas of the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada from Mono County, California, east to Nye County, Nevada, south through southwestern Nevada, southeast to Clark County, Nevada, and southwest to central San Bernardino County, California at 3,000 to 7,900 feet) altitude.
Venom: The venom of this snake is potentially dangerous to humans.
Diet: The diet of C. stephensi consists of small mammals, lizards, and birds.
Reproduction:Crotalus stephensi is ovoviviparous, and the young are born in July and August. Neonates are about 25 cm in total length.
Status: Listed as "No Status Rank" in both California and Nevada.
Taxonomy: In 2007, the Panamint rattlesnake was elevated to its own species, Crotalus stephensi, after being a subspecies of the speckled rattlesnake, Crotalus mitchellii. This was determined through DNA and morphology, and the study concluded that this species of rattlesnake did not interbreed with the southwestern speckled rattlesnake.
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.
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