Pituophis


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

and subspecies within the genus Pituophis are found throughout Mexico, the Southern and Western United States and Western Canada.

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.

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.

Species and subspecies

ImageScientific nameCommon NameSubspeciesDistribution
Pituophis catenifer gopher snake
North America
Pituophis deppei Mexican pine snake
  • P. d. deppei – southern Mexican pine snake
  • P. d. jani – northern Mexican pine snake
    		• central Oxaca, Mexico
    Pituophis insulanus Klauber, 1946Credos Island gopher snakeIsla de Credos, Mexico-
    Pituophis lineaticollis Middle American gopher snake
  • P. l. gibsoni :fr:Laurence Cooper Stuart|Stuart, 1954
  • P. l. lineaticollis
    		• From Mexico city, south to Chiapas, Mexico
    Pituophis melanoleucus pine snake
  • P. m. lodingi Blanchard, 1924 – black pine snake
  • P. m. melanoleucus – northern pine snake
  • P. m. mugitus Barbour, 1921 – Florida pine snake
    		• southeastern United States
    Pituophis ruthveni Stull, 1929Louisiana pine snakewest-central Louisiana and East Texas
    Pituophis vertebralis Cape gopher snakesouthern Baja California Sur, Mexico.