The scythe snake [1] ( lat. Masticophis flagellum ) - a species of snakes from the family of the same , living in North America .
| Whip snake |
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| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Infraclass : | Lepidosauromorphs |
| Infrastructure : | Alethinophidia |
| Gender: | American whip snakes |
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| International scientific name |
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Masticophis flagellum Shaw , 1802 |
| Synonyms |
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- Coluber flagellum Shaw, 1802
- Psammophis flagelliformis Holbrook, 1842
- Herpetodryas flagelliformis AMC Duméril & Bibron, 1854
- Zamenis flagelliformis Boulenger, 1893
- Bascanion flagellum Lönnberg, 1894
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Content
The total length ranges from 1.6 to 2.5 m. The head is short with big eyes. The body is slender, with smooth scales . The tail is long, covered with small scales, resembles a tightly woven whip. Coloring is brown, red-brown, gray or pink, with fuzzy spots, especially in the front of the body.
It inhabits various biotopes : from deserts to forests and agricultural land. Active during the day, feeds on lizards , snakes, birds and their eggs, small mammals.
Life expectancy is 18 years.
This is an egg laying snake. The female lays from 16 to 20 eggs. After 6-11 weeks, young runners 30 cm long appear.
It lives in the southern United States from California to Florida , and in northern Mexico in the states of Baja California , Sonora , Chihuahua , Sinaloa , Durango , Coahuila , Nuevo Leon , Zacatecas , San Luis Potosi , Tamaulipas , Queretaro , Aguascalientes .
- Masticophis flagellum cingulum (Lowe & Woodin, 1954)
- Masticophis flagellum flagellum Shaw, 1802
- Masticophis flagellum lineatulus (Smith, 1941)
- Masticophis flagellum piceus (Cope, 1892)
- Masticophis flagellum ruddocki (Brattstrom & Warren, 1953)
- Masticophis flagellum testaceus Say, 1823 [2]
- ↑ Ananyeva N. B. , Borkin L. Ya. , Darevsky I.S. , Orlov N.L. Amphibians and reptiles. Latin, Russian, English, German, French. / edited by Acad. V. E. Sokolova . - M .: Rus. Yaz., 1988 .-- S. 314. - 10,500 copies. - ISBN 5-200-00232-X .
- ↑ The Reptile Database: Masticophis flagellum
- Shaw, 1802: General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History , vol. 3, p. 313-615.
- Say in James, 1823: Account of an expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819 and '20: by order of the Hon. JC Calhoun, sec'y of war: under the command of Major Stephen H. Long. From the notes of Major Long, Mr. T. Say, and other gentlemen of the exploring party , vol. 2, p. 1-356.
- Cope, 1892: A critical review of the characters and variations of the snakes of North America . Proceedings of the United States National Museum, vol. 14, p. 589-694.
- Lowe & Woodin, 1954: A new racer (genus Masticophis) from Arizona and Sonora, Mexico . Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol. 67, p. 247-250.
- Smith, 1941: Notes on Mexican snakes of the genus Masticophis . Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 31, p. 388-398.
