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Texas Night Snake Range Map






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Texas Night Snake Juvenile

Home »» Snakes »» Colubridae (Colubrids) »» Chihuahuan Night Snakes »» Texas Night Snake (Hypsiglena jani texana)


Texas Night Snake (Hypsiglena jani texana)STATUS





Description: This is a common, slender, 16-inches long, nocturnal inhabitant of rocky desert locales. As with many ground dwelling snakes, the grayish to brown body color tends to blend, at times almost imperceptibly with the earthen hues of their chosen habitat, this common snake can be very difficult to see either in habitat or on paved roads at night. There are many black outlined dark brown spots on back and sides. There are 3 elongate dark blotches on the neck, one on the nape and another on each side.


Habitat: This snake generally inhabits arid and semiarid plains, canyons, and hillsides, usually in rocky, dissected or hilly terrain with sandy or gravelly soils, including areas dominated by desert, grassland, shrubland, savanna, or woodland. Periods of inactivity are spent under rocks or other surface cover, in crevices, or underground.


Range: The range map of the Texas night snake stretches across dry, rocky habitats of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.


Found in these States: CO | NM | OK | TX


Diet: Primarily feeds on lizards.


Reproduction: Mates in spring and lays a clutch of 4 to 6 eggs that hatch during the summer months.


Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the wide distribution, large number of locations, presumed large population, lack of major threats, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.


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: Hypsiglena
                     »» Species: Hypsiglena jani - Chihuahuan Night Snakes
                       »» Subspecies: Hypsiglena jani texana - Texas Night Snake

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hypsiglena jani", 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 at Amazon.com


U.S. Guide to Venomous Snakes and Their Mimics     Venomous Snakebite in the Western United States     Venomous Snakes Of The Southeast     The 10 Most Dangerous Snakes in the United States and Canada



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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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