Sistrurus

{{Short description|Genus of snakes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Sisistrus miliaris miliaris.jpg | image_caption = Pygmy rattlesnake (''[[Sistrurus miliarius|S. miliarius]]''). | taxon = Sistrurus | authority = [[Samuel Garman|Garman]], 1884 | range_map = Sistrurus sp. distribution.png | range_map_caption = Distribution (using two-species model) | synonyms = * ''Crotalophorus'' [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1825 * ''Caudisona'' [[Leopold Fitzinger|Fitzinger]], 1826 * ''Sistrurus'' [[Samuel Garman|Garman]], 1884 | synonyms_ref = <ref name="McD99">[[Roy Wallace McDiarmid|McDiarmid RW]], [[Jonathan A. Campbell|Campbell JA]], [[T'Shaka A. Touré|Touré TA]] (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).</ref> }}

:'''''Common names''': ground [[rattlesnake]]s, pygmy rattlesnakes, massasaugas''<ref>[[Albert Hazen Wright|Wright AH]], [[Anna Allen Wright|Wright AA]] (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press. (7th printing, 1985). 1,105 pp. (in two volumes). {{ISBN|0-8014-0463-0}}. (''Sistrurus'', pp. 1040-1061).</ref>

'''''Sistrurus''''' is a [[genus]] of [[pit viper]]s in the [[subfamily]] [[Crotalinae]] of the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Viperidae]]. The genus is [[Endemism|endemic]] to [[Canada]], the [[United States]], and [[Mexico]].<ref name="McD99"/> Its [[Genus|generic]] name is a [[Latin language|Latinized]] form of the [[Greek language|Greek]] word for "tail rattler" (Σείστρουρος, ''seistrouros'') and shares its root with the ancient [[Egypt]]ian musical instrument, the [[sistrum]], a type of rattle.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} Three [[species]] are currently recognized.<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS|id=174301|taxon=''Sistrurus ''|accessdate=4 November 2006}}</ref>

==Description== [[File:Head Scales of Crotalus and Sistrurus.jpg|thumb|Difference in head scalation between snakes of the genus ''Crotalus'' and the genus ''Sistrurus''.]] ''Sistrurus'' species differ from the larger rattlesnakes of the genus ''[[Crotalus]]'' in a number of ways. They are smaller in size, but also their [[scale (zoology)|scalation]] is different: ''Sistrurus'' species have nine large head plates (same as ''[[Agkistrodon]]''), whereas in ''Crotalus'' (and almost all other viperids), the head is mostly covered with a large number of smaller scales. ''Sistrurus'' species have a relatively small rattle that produces more of a high-pitched, buzzing sound than does a larger rattle, like that of ''Crotalus''.

==Geographic range== Species of ''Sistrurus'' are found in Canada, the [[Western United States|Western]], [[Southern United States|Southern]], and [[Midwestern United States]], and isolated populations in southern and eastern Mexico.<ref name="McD99"/>

==Venom== Although bites from ''Sistrurus'' species are regarded as less dangerous to humans than those from ''Crotalus'' rattlesnakes, primarily due to their lower venom yield, every venomous snake bite should be considered serious, and prompt medical treatment should always be sought.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

==Species== {|cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse;" !bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Image<ref name="ITIS"/> !bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Species<ref name="ITIS"/> !bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Taxon author<ref name="ITIS"/> !bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Subsp.<ref name="ITIS"/> !bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Common name !bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Geographic range<ref name="McD99"/> |- |[[File:Sistrurus catenatus.jpg|120px]] |''[[Sistrurus catenatus|S. catenatus]]'' |([[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1818) |align="center"| - |eastern massasauga |style="width:45%"|It is found in the [[Great Lakes region]] from southeastern [[Ontario]] (Canada) and central and western [[New York (state)|New York]] west to [[Iowa]]. It occurs in various habitats ranging from [[swamp]]s and [[marsh]]es to [[grassland]]s, usually below {{convert|1500|m|ft|abbr=on}} altitude. |- |[[File:Sistrurus miliarius miliarius rote Zwergklapperschlange.jpg|120px]] |''[[Sistrurus miliarius|S. miliarius]]'' T |([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1766) |align="center"|3 |pygmy rattlesnake |In the [[Southeastern United States]] from eastern and southern [[North Carolina]] southward through peninsular [[Florida]] and westward to [[Oklahoma]] and [[East Texas]]. It occurs in [[flatwoods]], [[sandhill]]s, mixed [[forest]]s, and [[floodplain]]s, and around marshes and [[lake]]s. |- |[[File:Sistrurus catetanus tergeminus by LA Dawson.jpg|frameless|120x120px]] |[[Sistrurus tergeminus|''S. tergeminus'']] |([[Thomas Say|Say]], 1823) |align="center"|2 |western massasauga |Found throughout the [[Great Plains]] and southwestern states (from [[Kansas]] to [[Arizona]]) into disjunct populations in Mexico ([[Tamaulipas]], southern [[Nuevo León]], north-central [[Coahuila]], and Samalayuca, [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]]). It inhabits grasslands, rocky hillsides, and woodland edges. |} T) [[Type species]].<ref name="McD99"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *[[species:Brian Hubbs|Hubbs, Brian]]; [[species:Brendan O'Connor|O'Connor, Brendan]] (2012). ''A Guide to the Rattlesnakes and other Venomous Serpents of the United States''. Tempe, Arizona: Tricolor Books. 129 pp. {{ISBN|978-0-9754641-3-7}}. (''Sistrurus'', pp. 72–85). *[[Robert Powell (herpetologist)|Powell R]], [[Roger Conant (herpetologist)|Conant R]], [[Joseph T. Collins|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}}. (''Sistrurus'', pp. 443–445).

==External links== {{Commons|Sistrurus}} *{{NRDB genus|genus=Sistrurus|date=5 December|year=2007}}

[[Category:Sistrurus| ]] [[Category:Reptiles of Mexico]] [[Category:Reptiles of Canada]] [[Category:Reptiles of the United States]] [[Category:Extant Miocene first appearances]] [[Category:Snake genera]] [[Category:Taxa named by Samuel Garman]]