Storeria hidalgoensis

{{Short description|Species of snake}} {{Italic title}} {{Speciesbox | name = ''Storeria hidalgoensis'' | image = | image_caption = | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Mendoza-Quijano, F. |date=2007 |title=''Storeria hidalgoensis'' |volume=2007 |article-number=e.T63929A12729181 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63929A12729181.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Storeria | species = hidalgoensis | authority = Taylor, 1942<ref name="Taylor 1942"/> | synonyms = *''C[oluber]. occipito-maculatus'' Storer, 1839 ''(part.)'' *''Storeria hidalgoensis'' Taylor, 1942 *''Storeria occipitomaculata hidalgoensis'' – Trapido, 1944<ref name="Trapido 1944"/> *''Storeria hidalgoensis'' – Flores-Villela, 1993 }}

'''''Storeria hidalgoensis''''', commonly known as the '''Mexican yellow-bellied brown snake''' or the '''Mexican yellowbelly brown snake''', is a nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae.<ref name=RDB/><ref name=CAAR>{{cite journal|last=Ernst|first=C. H.|title=''Storeria hidalgoensis''|journal=Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles|year=2008|volume=859|pages=1–3|publisher=Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles}}</ref> It is endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" />

==Taxonomy== First considered a Mexican population of ''Storeria occipitomaculata'' by Storer in 1839,<ref name=CAAR /> ''Storeria hidalgoensis'' was described as separate species in 1942 by Taylor.<ref name="Taylor 1942"/> In 1944 it was reassigned as a subspecies of ''Storeria occipitomaculata'' by Trapido,<ref name="Trapido 1944"/> and then in 1993 Flores-Villela reinstated it to full species rank, based partly on allopatry. Some feel that this re-evaluation to full species rank requires additional study.<ref name=CAAR />

The holotype of this species is deposited at the University of Illinois Museum of Natural History (Specimen no. 25061). It is a male collected by E.H. Taylor on 13 August 1938.

==Geographic range== It is found in the eastern and south-central regions of the central Mexican plateau<ref name=CAAR /> where it ranges from Nuevo León, through Tamaulipas and eastern San Luis Potosí to northeastern Hidalgo at elevations between {{convert|1,400|and|1,800|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" />

==Description== Adults are small and somewhat slender with a maximum length of {{convert|33.7|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Dorsal body color varies from gray to light brown, tan, reddish, or dark brown (grayish to dark brown in preservative) usually with small gray flecks but no dark spots or crossbands. Ventral coloring is either gray to pink, or may have dark gray pigment at least laterally. Its head is black, especially posteriorly, with small gray flecks. A dark wedge-shaped mark lies behind each parietal and a light spot is usually present within the mark. Labials are either gray, or contain variable amounts of dark pigment with the fifth supralabial being the lightest of the series. The dorsal scales are without pits with some faintly keeled.<ref name=CAAR />

==Habitat== This is a terrestrial species that occurs in primary and secondary cloud forest, pine forest, pine-oak forest and fir forests.<ref name=CAAR />

==Reproduction== ''Storeria hidalgoensis'' are viviparous.<ref name=CAAR />

==Diet== The biology of these snakes is poorly known and further study has been recommended.<ref name=CAAR />

==Etymology== The specific name, ''hidalgoensis'', is composed of ''hidalgo-'', which refers to the Mexican state in which the type specimen was collected, and the Latin suffix ''-ensis'', which means "belonging to".<ref name=CAAR />

==Bibliography== * Flores-Villela, O.A. 1993. Herpetofauna Mexicana: annotated list of the species of amphibians and reptiles of Mexico, recent taxonomic changes, and new species. Carnegie Mus. Nat. Hist. Spec. Publ. (17): iv + 73 pp, 2 figures, 1 table.

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=RDB>{{NRDB species |genus=Storeria |species=hidalgoensis |access-date=29 January 2022}}</ref>

<ref name="Taylor 1942">{{cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=Edward H. |title=Mexican snakes of the genera ''Adelophis'' and ''Storeria'' |journal=Herpetologica |date=1942 |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=75–79 |jstor=3889544}}</ref>

<ref name="Trapido 1944">{{cite journal |last1=Trapido |first1=Harold |title=The snakes of the genus ''Storeria'' |journal=American Midland Naturalist |date=1944 |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=1–84 |doi=10.2307/2421382 |jstor=2421382 }}</ref> }}

== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003931/http://www.arkive.org/storeria/storeria-hidalgoensis/image-G74190.html Photo of ''Storeria hidalgoensis'']

Category:Storeria Category:Snakes of North America Category:Fauna of the Sierra Madre Oriental Category:Endemic reptiles of Mexico Category:Reptiles described in 1942 Category:Taxa named by Edward Harrison Taylor