Contia (snake)

Last updated

Contia
Contia tenuis (San Luis Obispo).jpg
Contia tenuis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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 snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus is endemic to North America.

Contents

Etymology

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

Species

There are two recognized species: [3]

ImageScientific NameCommon NameDistribution
Contia longicaudae.jpg Contia longicaudae Feldman & Hoyer, 2010forest sharp-tailed snakenorthern California and southern Oregon
Sharp-tailed snake (Contia tenuis) (24793736779).jpg Contia tenuis (Baird & Girard, 1852)sharp-tailed snakeCalifornia, Oregon, and Washington, as well as British Columbia, Canada: Southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia around Victoria, British Columbia,and Pemberton, British Columbia

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spencer Fullerton Baird</span> American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist, and museum curator

Spencer Fullerton Baird was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He eventually served as assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian from 1850 to 1878, and as Secretary from 1878 until 1887. He was dedicated to expanding the natural history collections of the Smithsonian which he increased from 6,000 specimens in 1850 to over 2 million by the time of his death. He published over 1,000 works during his lifetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Frédéric Girard</span> French biologist

Charles Frédéric Girard was a French biologist specializing in ichthyology and herpetology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonhard Stejneger</span> Biologist

Leonhard Hess Stejneger was a Norwegian-born American ornithologist, herpetologist and zoologist. Stejneger specialized in vertebrate natural history studies. He gained his greatest reputation with reptiles and amphibians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lawrence LeConte</span> American entomologist (1825-1883)

John Lawrence LeConte was an American entomologist, responsible for naming and describing approximately half of the insect taxa known in the United States during his lifetime, including some 5,000 species of beetles. He was recognized as the foremost authority on North American beetles during his career, and has been described as "the father of American beetle study".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Wetmore</span> American ornithologist and avian paleontologist (1886–1978)

Frank Alexander Wetmore was an American ornithologist and avian paleontologist. He was the sixth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was also an elected member of both the American Philosophical Society and the United States National Academy of Sciences.

<i>Pseudemys</i> Genus of turtles

Pseudemys is a genus of large, herbivorous, freshwater turtles of the eastern United States and adjacent northeast Mexico. They are often referred to as cooters, which stems from kuta, the word for turtle in the Bambara and Malinké languages, brought to America by enslaved people from Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-nosed snake</span> Species of snake

The long-nosed snake is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to North America. It has two recognized subspecies. The other species in the genus were previously considered subspecies.

<i>Sonora</i> (snake) Genus of snakes

Sonora is a genus of small harmless colubrid snakes commonly referred to as ground snakes, which are endemic to North America.

<i>Salvadora</i> (snake) Genus of snakes

Salvadora is a genus of colubrid snakes commonly called patchnose snakes or patch-nosed snakes, which are endemic to the western United States and Mexico. They are characterized by having a distinctive scale on the tip of the snout.

<i>Tantilla</i> Genus of snakes

Tantilla is a large genus of harmless New World snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus includes 66 species, which are commonly known as centipede snakes, black-headed snakes, and flathead snakes.

<i>Storeria</i> Genus of snakes

Storeria is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. The genus is endemic to North America and Central America. The genus consists of five species, four of which are known as brown snakes, and one of which is known as the redbelly snake.

<i>Regina</i> (snake) Genus of snakes

Regina is a genus of semiaquatic natricine colubrid snakes known as crayfish snakes, named after their primary choice of diet. The genus consists of two species which are found in the eastern and central United States.

<i>Rhinocheilus</i> Genus of snakes

Rhinocheilus is a genus of snakes, commonly called the long-nosed snakes, in the family Colubridae. The genus is native to the western United States and Mexico.

Hobart Muir Smith, born Frederick William Stouffer, was an American herpetologist. He is credited with describing more than 100 new species of American reptiles and amphibians. In addition, he has been honored by having at least six species named after him, including the southwestern blackhead snake, Smith's earth snake, Smith's arboreal alligator lizard, Hobart's anadia, Hobart Smith's anole, and Smith's rose-bellied lizard. At 100 years of age, Smith continued to be an active and productive herpetologist. Although he published on a wide range of herpetological subjects, his main focus throughout his career was on the amphibians and reptiles of Mexico, including taxonomy, bibliographies, and history. Having published more than 1,600 manuscripts, he surpassed all contemporaries and remains the most published herpetologist of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Bend slider</span> Species of turtle

The Big Bend slider, also called commonly the Mexican Plateau slider and la jicotea de la meseta mexicana in Mexican Spanish, is a species of aquatic turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is native to the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

Frank Nelson Blanchard was an American herpetologist, and professor of zoology at the University of Michigan from which institution he received his Ph.D. He is credited with describing several new subspecies, including the broad-banded water snake, Nerodia fasciata confluens, and the Florida king snake, Lampropeltis getula floridana. As well, he has been honored by having reptiles and amphibians named after him, including the western smooth green snake, ecies | Opheodrys vernalis blanchardi, and Blanchard's cricket frog, Acris crepitans blanchardi.

<i>Rena</i> (snake) Genus of snakes

Rena is a genus of snakes in the family Leptotyphlopidae. The genus is endemic to the New World. All of the species were previously placed in the genus Leptotyphlops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doris Mable Cochran</span> American herpetologist

Doris Mable Cochran was an American herpetologist and custodian of the American Natural Collection at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., for many years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharp-tailed snake</span> Species of snake

The sharp-tailed snake or sharptail snake is a small species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the Western United States and British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James A. Peters</span> American herpetologist and zoogeographer

James Arthur Peters was an American herpetologist and zoogeographer.

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