Sonoran Shovel-Nose Snake (Sonora palarostris)
Description: S. palarostris is cross-banded with black, yellow (or whitish), and red bands. Consequently, it resembles the Sonoran coral snake (Micruroides euryxanthus). The mnemonic "red on yellow kill a fellow, red on black, friend of Jack" doesn't work with this snake. However, unlike the coral snake, which has a black snout, Sonora palarostris has a yellow snout and is not venomous. Also on a coral snake, the bands go all the way around, but S. palarostris has a solid yellow belly. The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 15 rows at midbody; ventrals, 141 to 181; subcaudals, 34 to 64, divided. Maximum total length (including tail) of adults is 17 inches.
Habitat: This snake's range in Arizona is entirely within the Arizona Upland Sonoran Desertscrub community. It is usually found in or near gravelly washes that carve their way through mildly sloping, rocky bajadas. It inhabits terrain that is more rugged and rocky than that of the Western Shovel-nosed Snake.
Range: In Arizona this snake is found only in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument of western Pima County. The subspecies Chionactis palarostris organica is called the Organ Pipe Shovel-nosed Snake. It occurs ar elevations from about 1,500 feet to about 2,500 feet.
Found in these States:
AZ
Diet: The Sonoran Shovel-nosed Snake feeds on a variety of insects, scorpions, spiders, centipedes, and other invertebrates.
Reproduction: Mating takes place in spring. A clutch of up to 5 eggs is laid in summer.
Status: Small range in southern Arizona and adjacent Sonora, Mexico; abundance and trend are poorly known; along highways, the species is apparently threatened by road mortality and future development that will exacerbate this threat; however, it is likely that most of the occupied habitat is unaffected by traffic and development.
Subspecies: Two, with just one found in the United States:
Organ Pipe Shovelnose Snake - (Sonora palarostris organica)
Un-named - (Sonora palarostris palarostris)
Taxonomy: Taxonomic Swap Committed on 11-02-2022 - Chionactis palarostris replaced with Sonora palarostris
»» 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 palarostris - Sonoran Shovel-Nose Snake
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sonora palarostris", 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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