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Reptiles of the United States  
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A Guide to the Reptiles &
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Snakes of the U.S.



Resplendent Desert Shovel-Nosed Snake Range Map






ResplendentDesert Shovel-Nosed Snake Video




Resplendent Desert Shovel-Nosed Snake Juvenile

Home »» Snakes »» Colubridae (Colubrids) »» Resplendent Desert Shovel-Nosed Snake (Sonora annulata)


Resplendent Desert Shovel-Nosed Snake (Sonora annulata)STATUS





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: The species Chionactis annulata - Resplendent Desert Shovel-nosed Snake, occurs from the Southern California deserts into Arizona, Baja California, and northern Sonora, Mexico.


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.


Subspecies: Two, both in our region:
   Colorado Desert Shovelnose Snake - (Sonora annulata annulata)
   Desert Shovelnose Snake - (Sonora annulata klauberi)


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 - Resplendent Desert Shovel-Nosed Snake

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "ANIMAL", 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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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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