# Pituophis

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Genus of snakes

Pituophis Pacific gopher snake Pituophis catenifer catenifer Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Colubridae Tribe: Lampropeltini Genus: Pituophis Holbrook, 1842 Synonyms Churchilla, Elaphis, Epiglottophis, Pityophis, Rhinechis

***Pituophis*** is a [genus](/source/Genus) of non[venomous](/source/Snake_venom) [colubrid](/source/Colubrid) [snakes](/source/Snake), commonly referred to as **gopher snakes**, **pine snakes**, and **bullsnakes**, which are [endemic](/source/Endemism) to [North America](/source/North_America). They are often yellow or cream in color with dark spots and a dark line across their face. Some species can exceed seven feet in length. Gopher snakes can live for 15 years. The gopher snake is commonly misidentified as a [rattlesnake](/source/Rattlesnake) because of its similar coloration and its defensive behavior when feeling threatened. A scared gopher snake will flatten its head, hiss loudly, and shake its tail rapidly, doing a very convincing rattlesnake imitation.

## Nomenclature

The genus name *Pituophis* is a Latinized modern scientific Greek compound Πιτυόφις : "pine snake"; from [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_language): πίτυς (pítus, "pine"), and [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_language): ὄφις (óphis, "snake").

## Geographic range

[Species](/source/Species) and [subspecies](/source/Subspecies) within the [genus](/source/Genus) *Pituophis* are found throughout [Mexico](/source/Mexico), the Southern and [Western United States](/source/Western_United_States) and [Western Canada](/source/Western_Canada).[1]

## Description

All species of *Pituophis* are large and powerfully built. The head is relatively small in proportion to the body and it is only slightly distinct from the neck. The [rostral](/source/Rostral_scale) is enlarged and elongated, imparting a characteristic somewhat pointed shape to the head. All the species occurring in the United States have four [prefrontals](/source/Prefrontal_scales) instead of the usual two.[1]

## Modified epiglottis

In all snakes of the genus *Pituophis*, the [epiglottis](/source/Epiglottis) is peculiarly modified so that it is thin, erect and flexible. When a stream of air is forced from the [trachea](/source/Vertebrate_trachea), the epiglottis vibrates, thereby producing the peculiarly loud, hoarse hissing for which bullsnakes, gopher snakes, and pine snakes are well known.[2]

## Species and subspecies

Image Scientific name Common name Subspecies Distribution Pituophis catenifer (Blainville, 1835) gopher snake P. c. affinis (Hallowell, 1852) – Sonoran gopher snake P. c. annectens Baird & Girard, 1853 – San Diego gopher snake P. c. bimaris Klauber, 1946 – central Baja California gopher snake P. c. catenifer (Blainville, 1835) – Pacific gopher snake P. c. coronalis Klauber, 1946 – Coronado Island gopher snake P. c. deserticola Stejneger, 1893 – Great Basin gopher snake P. c. fulginatus Klauber, 1946 – San Martin Island gopher snake P. c. pumilis Klauber, 1946 – Santa Cruz Island gopher snake[3] P. c. sayi (Schlegel, 1837) – bullsnake North America Pituophis deppei (A.M.C. Duméril, 1853) Mexican bullsnake P. d. deppei (A.M.C. Duméril, 1853) – southern Mexican pine snake P. d. jani (Cope, 1861) – northern Mexican pine snake central, Mexico Pituophis insulanus Klauber, 1946 Cedros Island gopher snake Isla de Cedros, Mexico Pituophis lineaticollis (Cope, 1861) Middle American gopher snake P. l. gibsoni Stuart, 1954 P. l. lineaticollis (Cope, 1861) From Mexico city, south through Mexico and to Guatemala Pituophis melanoleucus (Daudin, 1803) pine snake P. m. lodingi Blanchard, 1924 – black pine snake P. m. melanoleucus (Daudin, 1803) – northern pine snake P. m. mugitus Barbour, 1921 – Florida pine snake southeastern United States Pituophis ruthveni Stull, 1929 Louisiana pine snake west-central Louisiana and East Texas Pituophis vertebralis (Blainville, 1835) Cape gopher snake southern Baja California Sur, Mexico.

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Conant1975_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Conant1975_1-1) [Conant R](/source/Roger_Conant_(herpetologist)) (1975). *A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition*. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-395-19977-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-395-19977-8) (paperback). (Genus *Pituophis*, pp. 198–201 + Plate 27 + figure 57 + Map 147).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Schmidt KP](/source/Karl_Patterson_Schmidt), [Davis DD](/source/Delbert_Dwight_Davis) (1941). *Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada*. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. (Genus *Pituophis*, pp. 158–160).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Santa Cruz Island Gopher Snake - Channel Islands National Park (U.S. National Park Service)"](https://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/nature/gopher-snake.htm).

## Further reading

- [Holbrook, John Edwards](/source/John_Edwards_Holbrook) (1842). [*North American herpetology : or, A description of the reptiles inhabiting the United States*](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/24524#page/14/mode/1up). Vol. IV. Philadelphia: J. Dobson. p. 7.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Pituophis](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pituophis).

- Genus *[Pituophis](https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/advanced_search?genus=Pituophis&exact=genus&submit=Search)* at [The Reptile Database](http://www.reptile-database.org/)

- Accounts of four subspecies, *P. deppei deppei, P. deppei jani, P. lineaticollis lineaticollis* and *P. lineaticollis gibsoni*, are given in [Duellman WE](https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/William_Edward_Duellman) (1960). ["A Taxonomic Study of the Middle American Snake, *Pituophis deppei* ".](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31570/31570-h/31570-h.htm) *University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History* **10**: 599–610.

Taxon identifiers Pituophis Wikidata: Q1992326 Wikispecies: Pituophis ADW: Pituophis CoL: 6R2B EoL: 35537 EPPO: 1PITUG GBIF: 2453825 iNaturalist: 29033 IRMNG: 1314693 ITIS: 174262 NCBI: 8594 Paleobiology Database: 67554

Authority control databases International GND National Israel Other Yale LUX

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