Contia (snake)

Contia
Contia tenuis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Dipsadinae
Genus:	Contia Baird and Girard, 1853 [1]
Type species
Contia tenuis

Contia is a small genus of small snakes in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The genus is native to western North America.

Etymology

The generic name, Contia, is in honor of American entomologist John Lawrence LeConte. ^[2]

Species

There are two species which are recognized as being valid. ^[3]

Image	Scientific Name	Common Name	Distribution
	Contia longicaudae Feldman & Hoyer, 2010	forest sharp-tailed snake	northern California and southern Oregon
	Contia tenuis (Baird & Girard, 1852)	sharp-tailed snake	California, Oregon, and Washington, as well as British Columbia, Canada: Southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia around Victoria, British Columbia, and Pemberton, British Columbia

References

1. "Contia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Genus Contia, p. 154).
3. Contia at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database . Accessed 21 May 2013.

Further reading

• Baird SF, Girard CF (1853). Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part I.—Serpents. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. xvi + 172 pp. (Contia, new genus, p. 110).