Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi

Last updated

Black pinesnake
Black Pine Snake.jpg
Status TNC T1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Pituophis
Species:
P. melanoleucus
Subspecies:
P. m. lodingi
Trinomial name
Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi
Blanchard, 1924
Synonyms [4]
  • Pituophis lodingi
    Blanchard, 1924
  • Pituophis melanoleucus loedingi
    Blanchard, 1924

Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi, commonly known as the black pinesnake or black pine snake, [5] is a subspecies of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to southern Mississippi and southwestern Alabama. It is one of three subspecies of the species Pituophis melanoleucus .

Contents

Naming and taxonomy

The black pinesnake's first appearance in literature was in 1920, when American herpetologist Frank N. Blanchard made a report of an exceptional specimen of Pituophis. He noted that, for the most part, it was black above and below. [6] Later, in 1924, after the collection of a total of four separate individuals, Blanchard proposed the creation of a new species, "Pituophis lodingi ", [7] and the name was subsequently used in literature. [8] The classification as a subspecies first appeared in literature in 1932 [9] and, following the 1932 publication, remained the chosen classification [10] [11] As of 2025, the snake remains classified at the subspecies level by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System. [5] Additionally, scientific literature published as recently as November 2024 continues to call the snake P. m. lodingi. [12]

A synonym for the black pinesnake is P. lodingi, the original name by Blanchard; [5] however, P. lodingi is invalid taxonomically. [13] The name Pituophis lodingi (and thus its current name, Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi) originates from the discoverer of the exceptional specimen noted above: it was given to Blanchard by, and thus named after, Henry Peter Löding, [7] : 532  who was an amateur naturalist in Mobile, Alabama. [14] : 160 

As of 2025, the black pinesnake is geographically isolated from other pinesnakes [15] (pinesnake is a term for P. melanoleucus as a whole). However, an intermediate form between the black pinesnake and P. m. mugitus (the Florida pinesnake) was described in 1956 which occasionally showed characteristics of both subspecies, [16] demonstrating that, in the past, contact occurred. [15] Separately, a 1971 study suggests that while intergradation occurred in the past between the black pinesnake and P. ruthveni (the Louisiana pinesnake), it likely does not continue to occur. [17]

Description

Black Pinesnake, Black Pine Snake, Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi, being held in May 2021.jpg
A russet colored black pinesnake

Pinesnakes as a whole have keeled dorsal scales and a pointed snout. Both pinesnakes and the black pinesnake display a blotched pattern that darkens with age. [15] However, the black pinesnake can be differentiated from other pinesnakes by its dark brown to black upper (dorsal) and lower (ventral) surfaces. Adults may possess russet-brown on the snout and lips, and occasional white scales on the throat and belly may be present. Finally, there may be faint blotches present on the posterior portion of the body, reaching to the tail. The black pinesnake can be differentiated from racers and whipsnakes by its keeled dorsal scales and singular anal scale (versus the other snakes' smooth dorsal scales and divided anal scale). [18]

Adult black pinesnakes usually have a total length (tail included) of 48 to 64 in (1.2 to 1.6 m), though the longest recorded was 89 in (2.3 m). [19]

Distribution and habitat

The black pinesnake is native to certain southeastern states in the United States. Specifically, its range is limited to the following states: [1]

Within these areas, the black pinesnake inhabits longleaf pine habitats. [1] The optimal habitat consists of "sandy, well-drained soils with an open-canopied overstory of longleaf pine, a reduced shrub layer, and a dense herbaceous ground cover". [15]

Ecology

The black pinesnake is primarily diurnal, with some activity during the night. It is carnivorous and potentially uses its burrowing skills to dig nests or excavate rodents for consumption. Its diet primarily consists of rodents such as hispid cotton rats, mice, and, more rarely, eastern fox squirrels, but also includes nestling rabbits, bobwhite quail and their eggs, and eastern kingbirds. [15]

In a 2007 study involving five individual black pinesnakes, they were found hibernating only in "chambers formed by the decay and burning of pine stumps and roots" at a mean depth of 9.8 in (25 cm) and a maximum depth of 13.8 in (35 cm). In the same study, it was found that, unlike the northern pinesnake (P. m. melanoleucus), the only excavation of hibernacula (places where animals seek refuge to overwinter) completed by the black pinesnake was minor enlargement of preexisting chambers. [21] It was noted separately, however, that "[t]hese sites are not considered true hibernacula because black pinesnakes move above ground on warm days throughout all months of the year". [15]

Conversation status

In addition to the state-level conservation statuses previously noted, the black pinesnake has been classified by NatureServe as G4T1?; [1] this means that while the species, P. melanoleucus, is "apparently secure", the specific subspecies of P. m. lodingi is "critically imperiled". NatureServe defines "apparently secure" as "[a]t fairly low risk of extinction or collapse" and "vulnerable" as "[a]t very high risk of extinction or collapse". However, the question mark indicates inexact numeric rank with regard to the subspecies conservation status. [22] Separately, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has designated the black pinesnake as "Threatened" since 2015. [20]

The subspecies P. m. lodingi is threatened primarily due to habitat loss, though it is also affected by snake fungal disease and intentional killing by humans. [20] In the original rule by the USFWS, it was determined that, in addition to the previously listed factors, the black pinesnake is threatened by degradation and fragmentation of habitat due to silviculture, urbanization, fire suppression, and road mortality. [15] Fragmentation of these habitats leads to genetic drift. [20] Habitat loss, in the case of the black pinesnake, is primarily due to conversion of habitat to incompatible uses, like commercial forestry, agriculture, and urban development, [1] though climate change also plays a factor in reducing available habitat. [20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Status S1 means "critically imperiled" or at high risk of extirpation (local extinction) in the jurisdiction.
  2. 1 2 Status S2 means "imperiled" or at high risk of extirpation (local extinction) in the jurisdiction.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi ". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  2. ↑ "Black pinesnake (Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi)". Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  3. ↑ Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (6 October 2015). "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status for Black Pinesnake With 4(d) Rule". Federal Register. 80 (193): 60468–60489. 80 FR 60468
  4. ↑ Species Pituophis melanoleucus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  5. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey (2013). "Report: Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . doi:10.5066/F7KH0KBK . Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  6. ↑ Blanchard, Frank N. (1920). "A Black Pituophis " . Copeia (81): 30–33. doi:10.2307/1435931. ISSN   0045-8511. JSTOR   1435931.
  7. 1 2 Blanchard, Frank N (1924). "A name for the black Pituophis from Alabama". Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters. iv: 531–532 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ↑ Blanchard, Frank Nelson (February 1925). Welch, Paul S.; McCartney, Eugene S. (eds.). "A Key to the Snakes of the United States, Canada and Lower California". Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters. 4: 16 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Stull, Olive Griffith (October 12, 1932). "An annotated list of the forms of the genus Pituophis " (PDF). Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology – University of Michigan (250). Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press: 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 23, 2024.
  10. ↑ Wright, Albert Hazen (1950). "Common Names of the Snakes of the United States". Herpetologica. 6 (6): 151. ISSN   0018-0831. JSTOR   3890035.
  11. ↑ Smith, Hobart M.; Kennedy, J. P. (1951). "Pituophis melanoleucus ruthveni in Eastern Texas And Its Bearing on the Status of P. catenifer ". Herpetologica. 7 (3): 96. ISSN   0018-0831. JSTOR   27669678.
  12. ↑ Shukla, Shivam (2024-11-25). "Ecological Epidemiology of the Fungal Pathogen Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola in Southeastern U.S. Snake Populations: Distribution, Drivers, and Anthropogenic Risk Factors". USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations: 37 – via Digital Commons at The University of South Florida.
  13. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey (2013). "Report: Pituophis lodingi ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . doi:10.5066/F7KH0KBK . Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  14. ↑ Beolens, B.; Watkins, M.; Grayson, M. (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. xiii + 296. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status for Black Pinesnake With 4(d) Rule". Federal Register. 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  16. ↑ Conant, Roger (1956). "A review of two rare pine snakes from the Gulf coastal plain". American Museum Novitates (1781): 10–11. hdl:2246/5240.
  17. ↑ Crain, J. Larry; Cliburn, J. William (1971). "Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi from the Western Part of Its Range" . The Southwestern Naturalist. 15 (4): 496–497. Bibcode:1971SWNat..15..496C. doi:10.2307/3670230. ISSN   0038-4909. JSTOR   3670230.
  18. ↑ Conant, Roger; Collins, Joseph T. (1991). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America. Internet Archive. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN   978-0-395-37022-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  19. 1 2 "Black pinesnake (Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi)". Environmental Conservation Online System. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "Black Pine Snake (Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi)". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  21. ↑ Rudolph, D. C.; Schaefer, R. R.; Burgdorf, S. J.; Duran, M.; Conner, R. N. (2007-12-01). "Pine Snake (Pituophis ruthveni and Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi) Hibernacula" . Journal of Herpetology. 41 (4): 560–565. doi:10.1670/06-235.1. ISSN   0022-1511.
  22. ↑ "Conservation Status Categories". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
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