Pituophis melanoleucus
| Pituophis melanoleucus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Subfamily: | Colubrinae |
| Genus: | Pituophis |
| Species: | P. melanoleucus |
| Binomial name | |
|
Pituophis melanoleucus (Daudin, 1803) |
|
| Synonyms | |
Pituophis melanoleucus, commonly known as the pine snake, is a nonvenomous species of colubrid endemic to the southeastern United States. Three subspecies are currently recognized.
Three subspecies are currently recognized: the nominate subspecies P. m. melanoleucus (Daudin, 1803), the northern pine snake; P. m. lodingi (Blanchard, 1924), the black pine snake; and P. m. mugitus (Barbour, 1921), the Florida pine snake.
The subspecific name lodingi is in honor of Danish-born amateur herpetologist Peder Henry Löding (1869-1942) who lived in Alabama.
The species has a variety of common names, including: pine snake, pinesnake, common pine snake, bull snake, black and white snake, carpet snake, chicken snake, common bull snake, eastern bull snake, eastern pine snake, horn(ed) snake, New Jersey pine snake, North American pine snake, northern pine snake, pilot snake, and white gopher snake.
Adults are large, growing to 48–100 inches (120–250 cm) in length, and are powerfully built. The head is small and somewhat pointed with an enlarged rostral scale that extends upward between the internasal scales. There are usually 4 prefrontal scales. At midbody there are 27-37 rows of keeled dorsal scales. The anal plate is single. The color pattern consists of a light ground color overlaid with black, brown or reddish-brown blotches.
The species is found in the United States in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Delaware and Virginia. The nominate subspecies occurs in southern New Jersey, southern North Carolina west through South Carolina to northern Georgia, eastern Tennessee, southeastern Kentucky and south into Alabama. P. m. lodingi occurs from southwestern Alabama to eastern Louisiana, overlapping with P. m. mugitus from southern South Carolina to Georgia and southern Florida.
...
Wikipedia