Pituophis

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Infraordo: Caenophidia
Superfamilia: Colubroidea

Familia: Colubridae
Subfamilia: Colubrinae
Genus: Pituophis
Species: P. catenifer - P. deppei - P. lineaticollis - P. melanoleucus - P. ruthveni

Name

Pituophis Holbrook, 1842

Type species: Coluber melanoleucus Daudin, 1803
References

Holbrook, 1842: N. Am. Herpetology, 2nd ed., 4 : 7.
Pituophis at the New Reptile Database. Accessed on 04 oct 2008.

Vernacular names
English: Gopher Snakes, Pine Snakes, and Bull Snakes

Pituophis is a genus of nonvenomous colubrid snakes commonly referred to as gopher snakes, pine snakes, and bullsnakes, which are endemic to North America.

Geographic range

Species and subspecies within the genus Pituophis are found throughout Mexico, the Southern and Western United States and Western Canada.[2]
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 is enlarged and elongated, imparting a characteristic somewhat pointed shape to the head. All the species occurring in the United States have four prefrontals instead of the usual two.[2]
Modified epiglottis

In all snakes of the genus Pituophis, the epiglottis is peculiarly modified so that it is thin, erect and flexible. When a stream of air is forced from the trachea, the epiglottis vibrates, thereby producing the peculiarly loud, hoarse hissing for which bullsnakes, gopher snakes and pine snakes are well known.[3]
Species and subspecies
Image Scientific name Common Name Subspecies Distribution
Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Carrizo Plain).jpg 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[4]
P. c. sayi (Schlegel, 1837) – bullsnake

North America
Pituophis deppei2.jpg Pituophis deppei (A.M.C. Duméril, 1853) Mexican pine snake

P. d. deppei (A.M.C. Duméril, 1853) – southern Mexican pine snake
P. d. jani (Cope, 1861) – northern Mexican pine snake

central Oxaca, Mexico
Pituophis insularis Klauber, 1946 Credos Island gopher snake Isla de Credos, Mexico
Shulba(Pituophis lineaticollis).jpg Pituophis lineaticollis (Cope, 1861) Middle American gopher snake

P. l. gibsoni Stuart, 1954
P. l. lineaticollis (Cope, 1861)

From Mexico city, south to Chiapas, Mexico
G-Bartolotti FL pine.jpg 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
PinesnakeSaenz nr-page.jpg Pituophis ruthveni Stull, 1929 Louisiana pine snake west-central Louisiana and East Texas
Cape gopher snake.jpg Pituophis vertebralis (Blainville, 1835) Cape gopher snake southern Baja California Sur, Mexico.

References

Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Pituophis, pp. 585–626, Figures 171–181, Map 46).
Conant R (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Genus Pituophis, pp. 198–201 + Plate 27 + figure 57 + Map 147).
Schmidt KP, Davis DD (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).

"Santa Cruz Island Gopher Snake - Channel Islands National Park (U.S. National Park Service)".

Further reading
Holbrook, John Edwards (1842). North American herpetology : or, A description of the reptiles inhabiting the United States. IV. Philadelphia: J. Dobson. p. 7.