Drymarchon

Indigo snakes
Drymarchon couperi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Colubrinae
Genus:	Drymarchon Fitzinger, 1843
Species and subspecies
D. caudomaculatus D. corais D. couperi D. melanurus     D. m. erebennus

Indigo snakes (Drymarchon) are a genus of large non-venomous colubrid snakes found in Southeastern United States, Central America, and South America. Three to four species are currently recognized.^[1]

Description

Indigo snakes are large, robust snakes which can reach a length of over 3 m. They have smooth scales with several color variations, including a glossy blue-black color.

Behavior and diet

Indigo snakes are diurnal and actively forage for prey. They feed on a broad variety of small animals such as rodents, birds, lizards, frogs, toads, and other snakes, including rattlesnakes. They are not aggressive snakes and will only bite when threatened. Typical threat display includes hissing and shaking of its tail as a warning.

Species

D. m. erebennus

The genus Drymarchon was formerly considered to be a monotypic taxon formed by subspecies of D. Corais. Currently the genus includes three distinct species recognized by ITIS:^[1]

• Indigo Snake — Drymarchon corais (Boie, 1827)
• Eastern Indigo Snake — Drymarchon couperi (Holbrook, 1842)^[2]
• Middle American Indigo Snake — Drymarchon melanurus (Duméril, Bibron and Duméril, 1854)
  • Texas Indigo Snake — Drymarchon melanurus erebennus (Cope, 1860)^[3]

A fourth species, found in Venezuela, has been proposed by Wüster, Yrausquin, and Mijares-Urrutia:^[4][5]

• Falcon Indigo Snake — Drymarchon caudomaculatus, Wüster, Yrausquin & Mijares-Urrutia, 2001

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Drymarchon". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174223. Retrieved 2011-02-06. 
2. ^ "Drymarchon couperi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2007. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/63773. Retrieved 8 February 2011. 
3. ^ "Drymarchon melanurus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2007. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/63774. Retrieved 8 February 2011. 
4. ^ Genus Drymarchon at The Reptile Database
5. ^ Wüster, Wolfgang; José Luís Yrausquin and Abraham Mijares-Urrutia (2001). "A new species of indigo snake from north-western Venezuela (Serpentes: Colubridae: Drymarchon)". Herpetological Journal 11: 157–165. http://biology.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/Publications/Drymarchon.pdf. 

External links

• The Indigo Snake Systematics Page: A New Species of Indigo Snake (Drymarchon) from Venezuela, and a Reclassification of the Genus.
• "Black Snakes": Identification and Ecology - University of Florida fact sheet