Crotalus pricei

Crotalus pricei
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Subfamily:	Crotalinae
Genus:	Crotalus
Species:	C. pricei
Binomial name
Crotalus pricei Van Denburgh, 1895
Synonyms
Crotalus pricei - Van Denburgh, 1895 C[rotalus]. t[riseriatus]. pricei - Klauber In Githens & George, 1931 Crotalus pricei pricei - H.M. Smith, 1946[1]

Common names: twin-spotted rattlesnake,^[2] western twin-spotted rattlesnake,^[3] more.

Crotalus pricei is a venomous pitviper species found in the United States and Mexico. Currently, two subspecies are recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.^[4]

Description

Adults usually do not exceed 50–60 cm in length. The maximum length recorded was 66 cm.^[2]

The color pattern consists of a gray, bluish gray, brownish gray, or medium to reddish brown ground color, usually with a fine brown speckling. This is overlaid with a series of dorsal blotches that then to be divided down the median line to form 39-64 pairs.^[2]

Common names

Twin-spotted rattlesnake,^[2] western twin-spotted rattlesnake,^[3] Price's rattlesnake, Arizona spotted rattlesnake, spotted rattlesnake,^[5] Arizona twin-spotted rattlesnake.^[6]

Geographic range

This snake is found in the United States in southeastern Arizona. In northern Mexico it occurs in the Sierra Madre Occidental in Sonora, Chihuahua and Durango. It has also been found in the Sierra Madre Oriental in southeastern Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, with isolated records in San Luis Potosi and Aguascalientes. The type locality given is "Huachua Mts., Arizona" (Cochise County, Arizona, USA).^[1]

Conservation status

This species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001).^[7] Species are listed as such due to their wide distribution, presumed large population, or because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. The population trend is stable. Year assessed: 2007.^[8]

Subspecies

Subspecies[4]	Taxon author[4]	Common name[3]	Geographic range[1]
C. p. miquihuanus	Gloyd, 1940	Eastern twin-spotted rattlesnake	Mexico: southeastern Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.
C. p. pricei	Van Denburgh, 1895	Western twin-spotted rattlesnake	United States: southeastern Arizona. Mexico: Sonora, Chihuahua and Durango.

See also

• List of crotaline species and subspecies
• Crotalus by common name
• Crotalus by taxonomic synonyms
• Crotalinae by common name
• Crotalinae by taxonomic synonyms
• Snakebite

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Klauber LM. 1997. Rattlesnakes: Their Habitats, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind. Second Edition. First published in 1956, 1972. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-21056-5.
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Crotalus pricei". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174315. Retrieved 1 August 2007. 
5. ^ Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. ISBN 0-8014-0463-0.
6. ^ Brown JH. 1973. Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73-229. ISBN 0-398-02808-7.
7. ^ Crotalus pricei at the IUCN Red List. Accessed 13 September 2007.
8. ^ 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1) at the IUCN Red List. Accessed 13 September 2007.

External links

• Crotalus pricei at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 12 December 2007.