Forest Sharp-Tailed Snake (Contia longicaudae)
Description: The easiest way to set the two species apart is by looking at the tail length and the subcaudal scales. The forest sharp-tailed snake has a longer tail than Contia tenuis and more subcaudal scales. Specifically, the forest sharp-tailed snake has 43 to 58 subcaudal scales, whereas Contia tenuis has 24 to 42.
Habitat: The forest sharp-tailed snake is not as widespread as its relative Contia tenuis (the sharp-tailed snake). The forest sharp-tailed snake is found in shaded wet forests along the western coast of the United States. The forest sharp tailed snake went unnoticed for a long time due to its vast similarities to Contia tenuis and because of the secretive nature of both species of sharp-tailed snakes, and also of their seasonally limited amount of activity.
Range: C. longicaudae is found in northern California and southern Oregon.
Found in these States:
CA |
OR
Diet: Sharp-tailed snakes are carnivores and mainly feed on slugs and eggs of slugs. They sometimes also eat insects and earthworms.
Reproduction: The breeding season of the sharp-tailed snake occurs in early spring. Though the exact gestation period of this snake is unknown, females usually lay three to eight eggs in late summer. These snakes have been known to lay eggs in communal nests alongside the eggs of other Sharptail snakes.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the wide distribution, presumed large population, many locations, lack of major threats in most areas, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Squamata - Scaled Reptiles
»» Suborder: Serpentes
»» Superfamily: Colubroidea
»» Family: Colubridae - Colubrids
»» Genus: Contia
»» Species: Contia longicaudae - Forest Sharp-Tailed Snake
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Forest Sharp-Tailed Snake", 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.
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