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Pituophis melanoleucus

Pituophis melanoleucus, commonly known as the eastern pine snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the eastern United States. Three subspecies are currently recognized as being valid.

Pituophis melanoleucus
Suwanee County, FL - pine snake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Pituophis
Species:
P. melanoleucus
Binomial name
Pituophis melanoleucus
(Daudin, 1803)
Synonyms
List
  • Coluber melanoleucus Daudin, 1803
  • Pituophis melanoleucus Holbrook, 1842
  • Churchilla bellona Baird & Girard, 1852
  • Pituophis bellona Baird & Girard, 1852
  • Pituophis melanoleucus Baird & Girard, 1853
  • Rhinechis melanoleucus A.M.C. Duméril, 1853
  • Pityophis melanoleucus Garman, 1884
  • Coluber melanoleucus Boulenger, 1894[2]
  • Pituophis melanoleucus Stejneger & Barbour, 1917[3]

Taxonomy and etymology

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P. m. mugitus, Florida pine snake

The pine snake, Pituophis melanoleucus, gets its Latin name from "melano" meaning black and "leucos" which means white. This is in reference to its black and white body. Three subspecies of Pituophis melanoleucus are currently recognized:

The subspecific name lodingi is in honor of Danish-born amateur herpetologist Peder Henry Löding (1869-1942), who lived in Alabama.[5]

The species has a variety of common names, including: pine snake, pinesnake,[4] common pine snake, bullsnake, black and white snake, carpet snake, chicken snake, common bullsnake, eastern bullsnake, eastern pine snake, horn(ed) snake, New Jersey pine snake, North American pine snake, northern pine snake, pilot snake, and white gopher snake.[6]

Description

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Florida pine snake, close-up of the head

Adults of P. melanoleucus are large, growing to 48–90 in (120–230 cm) in total length (including tail)[7] and are powerfully built. The head is small and somewhat pointed with an enlarged rostral scale that extends upward between the internasal scales. Usually, four prefrontal scales are seen. At midbody are 27-37 rows of keeled dorsal scales.[8] The anal plate is single.[9] The color pattern consists of a light ground color overlaid with black, brown, or reddish-brown blotches.[8]

Geographic range and habitat

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The species P. melanoleucus is found in the United States in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Delaware and Virginia.[6][9] The nominate subspecies occurs in southern New Jersey, southern North Carolina west through South Carolina to northern Georgia, eastern Tennessee, southeastern Kentucky and south into Alabama. P. m. lodingi occurs from southwestern Alabama to eastern Louisiana, overlapping with P. m. mugitus from southern South Carolina to Georgia and southern Florida.[2]

The pine snake inhabits pine flatwoods, sandy pine-oak woodlands, prairies, cultivated field, open brushland, rocky desert and chaparral. It occurs from sea level to an elevation of 9,000 ft (2,700 m).[8] The pine snake requires well-drained, sandy soils with little vegetation for use as nesting and hibernation sites.[1] P. melanoleucus communities in New Jersey were found to hibernate communally while communities in other regions like Tennessee were found to hibernate on their own.[10]

Ecology

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Florida pine snake with a light pattern

The pine snake preys on rats, mice, moles and other small mammals and eggs.[6] It often enters rodent burrows in search of a meal. In these cases, multiple kills are frequent, with the snake pressing the mice against the walls of the burrow.[11] The snake remains underground in cold weather or during the heat of summer days.[1]

When disturbed, it often hisses loudly, sometimes flattening its head, vibrating its tail, and eventually striking at an intruder.[8] To make the hissing sound, the snake forces air out of its lungs, vibrating the epiglottis.[12] Several mammal species have been known to predate upon the hibernacula and nesting burrows of pine snakes including the American red fox (Vulpes fulva), striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) and Northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda).[13]

Reproduction

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Southern pine snake eggs

After mating has taken place in spring, clutches of three to 24 eggs are laid in June–August. The eggs are deposited in sandy burrows or under large rocks or logs and hatch after 64–79 days of incubation.[8] They are known to build communal nests, with several females laying eggs in the same spot.[14] The eggs are adherent and quite large, up to 66 mm (2.6 in) long by 45 mm (1.8 in) wide. Hatchlings measure 33–45 cm (13–18 in).[6] Eggs laid on wetter substrate tended to produce larger hatchlings than those laid on dryer substrate.[15]

Conservation status

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Florida pine snake

The pine snake is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List, due to its wide distribution and large number of subpopulations; while the total populations appears to be declining, this is likely happening at a slow rate. However, the species is thought to be impacted by continued habitat degradation and destruction. It is present in a variety of protected areas.[1] Habitat loss is the major threat to populations of this species. Construction of hibernacula is an effective tool for enhancing the survival rates of the species.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Hammerson GA (2007). "Pituophis melanoleucus ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007: e.T63873A12723588. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63873A12723588.en.
  2. ^ a b Pituophis melanoleucus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 29 June 2008.
  3. ^ Stejneger L, Barbour T (1917). A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 125 pp. (Pituophis melanoleucus, p. 86).
  4. ^ a b "Pituophis melanoleucus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
  5. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5.
  6. ^ a b c d Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada (7th printing, 1985 ed.). Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press. pp. 589, 609–621. ISBN 978-0-8014-0463-4.
  7. ^ Powell, Conant, Collins (2016).
  8. ^ a b c d e Behler JL, King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 644–645. ISBN 978-0-394-50824-5.
  9. ^ a b Conant R (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America (Second ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 199–200. ISBN 978-0-395-19979-4.
  10. ^ Burger, Joanna; Zappalorti, Robert T.; Gochfeld, Michael; DeVito, Emile; Schneider, David; McCort, Matt; Jeitner, Christian (2012). "Long-Term Use of Hibernacula by Northern Pinesnakes (Pituophis melanoleucus)". Journal of Herpetology. 46 (4): 596–601. doi:10.1670/11-100. ISSN 0022-1511. JSTOR 23327179. S2CID 84292918.
  11. ^ Mehrtens JM (1987). Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8069-6460-7.
  12. ^ "The Northern Pinesnake". Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
  13. ^ Burger, Joanna; Zappalorti, R. T.; Dowdell, J.; Georgiadis, Tino; Hill, Jacques; Gochfeld, Michael (September 1992). "Subterranean Predation on Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus)". Journal of Herpetology. 26 (3): 259. doi:10.2307/1564879. JSTOR 1564879.
  14. ^ “Pine Snake (Pituophis Melanoleucus).” Species Profile: Pine Snake (Pituophis Melanoleucus) | SREL Herpetology, https://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/pitmel.htm.
  15. ^ Gutzke, William H. N.; Packard, Gary C. (Jan–Feb 1987). "Influence of the Hydric and Thermal Environments on Eggs and Hatchlings of Bull Snakes Pituophis melanoleucus". Physiological Zoology. 60 (1): 9–17. doi:10.1086/physzool.60.1.30158624. ISSN 0031-935X. S2CID 87772315.
  16. ^ Burger, J.; Zappalorti, R. T. (June 1991). "Nesting Behavior of Pine Snakes (Pituophis m. melanoleucus) in the New Jersey Pine Barrens". Journal of Herpetology. 25 (2): 152. doi:10.2307/1564642. ISSN 0022-1511. JSTOR 1564642.

Further reading

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  • Barbour T (1921). "The Florida Pine Snake". Proc. New England Zoöl. Club 7: 117-118. (Pituophis melanoleucus mugitus, new subspecies).
  • Blanchard FN (1924). "A Name for the Black Pituophis of Alabama". Pap. Michigan Acad. Sci., Arts, Letters 4: 531-532. (Pituophis lodingi, new species).
  • Conant R, Bridges W (1939). What Snake Is That? A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains. (With 108 drawings by Edmond Malnate). New York and London: D. Appleton-Century Company. Frontispiece map + 163 pp. + Plates A-C, 1-32. (Pituophis melanoleucus, pp. 66–68 + Plate 10, figure 29; Plate 11, figure 30).
  • Daudin FM (1803). Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière des Reptiles ..., Tome Sixième [Volume 6]. Paris: F. Dufart. 447 pp. + Plates I-X. (Coluber melanoleucus, new species, p. 409). (in French).
  • Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Pituophis melanoleucus, pp. 122, 141).
  • Holbrook JE (1842). North American Herpetology; or, A Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. Vol. IV. Philadelphia: J. Dobson. 138 pp. + Plates I-XXXV. (Pituophis melanoleucus, pp. 7–10 + Plate I).
  • Morris, Percy A. (1948). Boy's Book of Snakes. (A volume of the Humanizing Science Series, edited by Jaques Cattell). New York: Ronald Press. viii + 185 pp. (Pituophis melanoleucus, pp. 44–47, 180).
  • Powell R, Conant R, Collins JT (2016). Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 plates, 207 figures. ISBN 978-0-544-12997-9. (Pituophis melanoleucus, pp. 391–392 + Plate 37).
  • Schmidt KP, Davis DD (1941). Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp., 34 plates, 103 figures. (Pituophis melanoleucus, pp. 160–162, Figure 46).
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