# Sistrurus

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Genus of snakes

Sistrurus Pygmy rattlesnake (S. miliarius). Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Viperidae Subfamily: Crotalinae Genus: Sistrurus Garman, 1884 Distribution (using two-species model) Synonyms[1] Crotalophorus Gray, 1825 Caudisona Fitzinger, 1826 Sistrurus Garman, 1884

- ***Common names**: ground [rattlesnakes](/source/Rattlesnake), pygmy rattlesnakes, massasaugas*[2]

***Sistrurus*** is a [genus](/source/Genus) of [pit vipers](/source/Pit_viper) in the [subfamily](/source/Subfamily) [Crotalinae](/source/Crotalinae) of the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Viperidae](/source/Viperidae). The genus is [endemic](/source/Endemism) to [Canada](/source/Canada), the [United States](/source/United_States), and [Mexico](/source/Mexico).[1] Its [generic](/source/Genus) name is a [Latinized](/source/Latin_language) form of the [Greek](/source/Greek_language) word for "tail rattler" (Σείστρουρος, *seistrouros*) and shares its root with the ancient [Egyptian](/source/Egypt) musical instrument, the [sistrum](/source/Sistrum), a type of rattle.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Three [species](/source/Species) are currently recognized.[3]

## Description

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](/source/Crotalus)* in a number of ways. They are smaller in size, but also their [scalation](/source/Scale_(zoology)) is different: *Sistrurus* species have nine large head plates (same as *[Agkistrodon](/source/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](/source/Western_United_States), [Southern](/source/Southern_United_States), and [Midwestern United States](/source/Midwestern_United_States), and isolated populations in southern and eastern Mexico.[1]

## 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Species

Image[3] Species[3] Taxon author[3] Subsp.[3] Common name Geographic range[1] S. catenatus (Rafinesque, 1818) - eastern massasauga It is found in the Great Lakes region from southeastern Ontario (Canada) and central and western New York west to Iowa. It occurs in various habitats ranging from swamps and marshes to grasslands, usually below 1,500 m (4,900 ft) altitude. S. miliarius T (Linnaeus, 1766) 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, sandhills, mixed forests, and floodplains, and around marshes and lakes. S. tergeminus (Say, 1823) 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). It inhabits grasslands, rocky hillsides, and woodland edges.

T) [Type species](/source/Type_species).[1]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-McD99_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-McD99_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-McD99_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-McD99_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-McD99_1-4) [McDiarmid RW](/source/Roy_Wallace_McDiarmid), [Campbell JA](/source/Jonathan_A._Campbell), [Touré TA](/source/T'Shaka_A._Tour%C3%A9) (1999). *Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1*. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-893777-00-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-893777-00-6) (series). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-893777-01-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-893777-01-4) (volume).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Wright AH](/source/Albert_Hazen_Wright), [Wright AA](/source/Anna_Allen_Wright) (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](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8014-0463-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8014-0463-0). (*Sistrurus*, pp. 1040-1061).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ITIS_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ITIS_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-ITIS_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-ITIS_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-ITIS_3-4) ["*Sistrurus*"](https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174301). [Integrated Taxonomic Information System](/source/Integrated_Taxonomic_Information_System). Retrieved 4 November 2006.

## Further reading

- [Hubbs, Brian](https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Brian_Hubbs); [O'Connor, Brendan](https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Brendan_O%27Connor) (2012). *A Guide to the Rattlesnakes and other Venomous Serpents of the United States*. Tempe, Arizona: Tricolor Books. 129 pp. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-9754641-3-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9754641-3-7). (*Sistrurus*, pp. 72–85).

- [Powell R](/source/Robert_Powell_(herpetologist)), [Conant R](/source/Roger_Conant_(herpetologist)), [Collins JT](/source/Joseph_T._Collins) (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](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-544-12997-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-544-12997-9). (*Sistrurus*, pp. 443–445).

## External links

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

- *[Sistrurus](http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/search.php?submit=Search&genus=Sistrurus)* at the [Reptarium.cz Reptile Database](http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/). Accessed 5 December 2007.

Taxon identifiers Sistrurus Wikidata: Q244198 Wikispecies: Sistrurus ADW: Sistrurus CoL: 63SCK EoL: 19677 GBIF: 2444221 iNaturalist: 30979 IRMNG: 1300453 ITIS: 174301 NCBI: 8755 Open Tree of Life: 755881 Paleobiology Database: 113770

Authority control databases National Israel Other Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sistrurus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistrurus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistrurus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.