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Hypsiglena jani | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Family: | Colubridae |
Genus: | Hypsiglena |
Species: | H. jani |
Binomial name | |
Hypsiglena jani (Dugès, 1865) | |
The distribution of Hypsiglena jani (brown), which now includes the two former subspecies Hypsiglena torquata dunklei (orange), and Hypsiglena torquata texana (yellow). | |
Synonyms | |
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Hypsiglena jani, commonly known as the Texas night snake or the Chihuahuan night snake, is a small species of mildly venomous snake in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and adjacent northeastern Mexico.
The epithet, jani, is in honor of Italian taxonomist Giorgio Jan. [8]
H. jani grows from 10 to 16 inches (25 to 41 centimetres) in total length (including tail), record 20 inches (51 cm). [9] It is typically a light gray or tan in color, with dark brown or dark gray blotching down the back, [10] and has an unmarked underside.[ citation needed ] It has smooth dorsal scales. [10] The eye has a vertically elliptical pupil. [10] H. jani is rear-fanged, and is considered to be venomous, though it is not dangerous to humans.[ citation needed ]
As the common names imply, H. jani is a primarily nocturnal snake.[ citation needed ]
The diet of H. jani consists of primarily lizards, but it will also eat smaller snakes and occasionally soft bodied insects.[ citation needed ]
H. jani prefers semi-arid habitats with rocky soils.[ citation needed ]
H. jani is an oviparous species that breeds in the spring rainy season, laying 4–6 eggs that take approximately 8 weeks to incubate before hatching. The eggs average 27 mm (1.1 in) long by 10 mm (3⁄8 in) wide. The hatchlings are about 15 cm (5.9 in) in total length. [6]
H. jani ranges from southern Kansas to southern Colorado, and south throughout New Mexico, the western half of Texas to central Mexico. [1]
Three subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. [2]
Nota bene : A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Hypsiglena.
Pituophis catenifer is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to North America. Nine subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies, Pituophis catenifer catenifer, described here. This snake is often mistaken for the prairie rattlesnake, but can be easily distinguished from a rattlesnake by the lack of black and white banding on its tail and by the shape of its head, which is narrower than a rattlesnake's.
Hypsiglena is a genus of small, rear-fanged snakes, commonly referred to as night snakes, in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The genus consists of nine species. Three of these species have subspecies, which have been maintained pending further investigation.
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The pine woods snake, also commonly known as the yellow-lipped snake or the brown-headed snake, is a species of secretive colubrid found in scattered locations across the south-eastern United States. Rhadinaea flavilata is rear-fanged and mildly-venomous, but not dangerous to humans.
Julia's ground snake is a species of snake in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is found in the Caribbean, on the Lesser Antilles islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe. There are three subspecies.
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