Crotalus molossus

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Habitat

Ecology: The species' habitat includes rocky areas (rock slides , outcrops, canyon slopes , areas near cliff , stream courses ), with vegetation ranging from arid tropical scrub , tropical deciduous forest , mixed boreal-tropical forest, paloverde-cactus-thorn bush associations, oak-grass savanna , and mesquite grasslands to chaparral and the pine-oak and pine-fir belts (Werler and Dixon 2000, Ernst and Ernst 2003, Stebbins 2003, Campbell and Lamar 2004). In Arizona and northern Mexico, this snake often occurs in rocky areas in pine-oak association. A population in southeastern Arizona frequented rocky areas but used arroyos (dry creeks ) and creosote bush flats in late summer and autumn (fall ) (Beck 1995). Other habitats include creosote bush-covered hills , grassy prairie, giant-dagger flats, and the vicinity of abandoned buildings (Tennant 1984). This species occupies a wide range of habitats in Mexico, where at the southern end of the range habitats include pine-oak, oak savanna, sweet-gum/oak forest, and mesquite grassland (Armstrong and Murphy 1979). Refuges during inactivity include rock crevices, caves, animal burrows, or wood rat houses. This snake is mostly terrestrial but sometimes climbs into trees or bushes.

List of Habitats: 1.4 Forest - Temperate 1.5 Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry 2.1 Savanna - Dry 3.4 Shrubland - Temperate 3.5 Shrubland - Subtropical/Tropical Dry 4.4 Grassland - Temperate 4.5 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical Dry 6 Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks) 7.1 Caves and Subterranean Habitats (non-aquatic) - Caves 8.1 Desert - Hot 8.2 Desert - Temperate

Biology

Diet

[Migration]

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Crotalus molossus molossus Baird and Girard 1853
2. Crotalus molossus molossus — Conant and Collins 1991: 237
3. Crotalus molossus molossus — Gloyd 1936
4. Crotalus molossus molossus — Liner 1994
5. Crotalus molossus molossus — Stebbins 1985: 230
6. Crotalus molossus — Mcdiarmid, Campbell and TourÉ 1999: 289
7. Crotalus terrificus Boulenger 1896

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: June 11, 2001.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Crotalus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 186 species and subspecies in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

C. abyssus · C. adamanteus (Eastern Diamond-Backed Rattlesnake) · C. adamanteus pleistofloridensis · C. adamanteus ruber · C. adamantus · C. addmanteus · C. admanteus · C. angelensis · C. aquilus · C. atricaudatus · C. atrose · C. atrox (Western Diamond-Backed Rattlesnake) · C. atrox=cinereus · C. atrox atrox (Western Diamond-Backed Rattlesnake) · C. atrox elegans · C. basciliscus · C. basiliscus (Mexican West Coast Rattlesnake) · C. basiliscus basiliscus · C. basiliscus oaxacus · C. biseriatus · C. caliginis · C. cascavella · C. catalinensis (Santa Catalina Island Rattlesnake) · C. cerastes (Gehörnte Klapperschlange) · C. cerastes cerastes (Mojave Desert Sidewinder) · C. cerastes cercobombus (Sonoran Sidewinder) · C. cerastes laterorepens (Colorado Desert Sidewinder) · C. cerberus · C. cinereous · C. concolor · C. confluentus · C. confluentus abyssus · C. confluentus kellyi · C. confluentus lutosus · C. confluentus nuntius · C. confluentus stephensi · C. culminatus · C. cumanensis · C. duriscus · C. durissus (Aruba Island Rattlesnake) · C. durissus cascavella (Aruba Island Rattlesnake) · C. durissus collilineatus (Aruba Island Rattlesnake) · C. durissus culminatus (Aruba Island Rattlesnake) · C. durissus cumanensis (Aruba Island Rattlesnake) · C. durissus dryinas · C. durissus dryinus · C. durissus durissus (Aruba Island Rattlesnake) · C. durissus marajoensis (Aruba Island Rattlesnake) · C. durissus ruruima (Aruba Island Rattlesnake) · C. durissus terrificus (South American Rattlesnake) · C. durissus totonacus (Aruba Island Rattlesnake) · C. durissus trigonicus (Aruba Island Rattlesnake) · C. durissus tzabcan (Aruba Island Rattlesnake) · C. enyo (Lower California Rattlesnake) · C. enyo cerralvensis · C. enyo enyo (Lower California Rattlesnake) · C. enyo furvus · C. ericsmithi (Guerreran Long-Tailed Rattlesnake) · C. estebanensis · C. exsul · C. gloydi lautus · C. goldmani · C. guttata · C. helleri · C. horridus (Timber Rattlesnake (Atricaudatus)) · C. horridus atricaudatus · C. horridus horridus (Timber Rattlesnake (Atricaudatus)) · C. hortulanus · C. intermedius (Mexican Smallhead Rattlesnake) · C. intermedius gloydi · C. intermedius intermedius (Mexican Smallhead Rattlesnake) · C. intermedius omiltemanus · C. lannomi (Autlán Long-Tailed Rattlesnake) · C. lecontei · C. lepidus (Rock Rattlesnake) · C. lepidus klauberi (Banded Rock Rattlesnake) · C. lepidus lepidus (Mottled Rock Rattlesnake) · C. lepidus maculosus (Rock Rattlesnake) · C. lepidus morulus (Rock Rattlesnake) · C. lepidus semicornutus · C. lorenzoensis · C. lucasensis · C. lucifer · C. mitchelli · C. mitchellii (Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake) · C. mitchellii angelensis (Speckled Rattlesnake) · C. mitchellii mitchellii (Speckled Rattlesnake) · C. mitchellii muertensis (Speckled Rattlesnake) · C. mitchellii pyrrhus (Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake) · C. mitchellii stephensi (Panamint Rattlesnake) · C. mitchelli angelensis · C. mitchelli mitchelli · C. mitchelli muertensis · C. mitchelli pyrrhus (Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake) · C. molassus · C. molossus (Black-Tailed Rattlesnake) · C. molossus estebanensis (Black-Tailed Rattlesnake) · C. molossus molossus (Black-Tailed Rattlesnake) · C. molossus nigrescens (Black-Tailed Rattlesnake) · C. molossus nigriscens

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Further Reading

• A check list of North American amphibians and reptiles / by Leonhard Stejneger and Thomas Barbour. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; [etc., etc.]1923. ENG url p. 125, p. 136.
• A manual of land and fresh water vertebrate animals of the United States (exclusive of birds) by Henry Sherring Pratt with 184 illustrations. Philadelphia, Blakiston's[c1923] ENG url p. 232.
• Amphibians and reptiles of Northern Coahuila, Mexico, by Karl P. Schmidt and David W. Owens. [Chicago, 1944] ENG url p. 114.
• Amphibians and reptiles of the Big Bend region of Texas, by Karl P. Schmidt and Tarleton F. Smith. [Chicago, 1944] ENG url p. 94.
• Animal life of the Carlsbad cavern, by Vernon Bailey Baltimore, The Williams and Wilkins Company, 1928. ENG url p. 164, p. 189.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. ENG url p. 1154, p. 341, p. 485.
• Archiv für Naturgeschichte. Berlin: Nicolai, 1835- GER url p. 124.
• Armstrong, B.L. and Murphy, J.B. 1979. The natural history of Mexican rattlesnakes. University of Kansas Museum Natural History, Special Publications 1(5): 1-88.
• Baird and Girard (1853) Cat. North Am. Rept. Mus. Smiths. Inst. 1. Serpents.
• Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
• Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, and A. L. Gardner 1987. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada. Resource Publication, no. 166. United States Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service. Washington, D.C., USA. 79.
• Beck, D.D. 1995. Ecology and energetics of three sympatric rattlesnakes in the Sonoran Desert. Journal of Herpetology 29: 211-223.
• Biologisches Zentralblatt. Leipzig [etc.]VEB Georg Thieme [etc.] GER url p. 236.
• Brattstrom, B.H. 1964. Evolution of the pit vipers. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 13: 185-286.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. ENG url p. 104, p. 110, p. 171, p. 193, p. 205, p. 230, p. 254, p. 269, p. 353, p. 73, p. 76.
• Bulletin of the Essex Institute. Salem, Mass., Essex Institute. ENG url p. 123.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, ENG url p. 188.
• Campbell and Lamar (1989) Venomous Rept. Latin America.
• Campbell, J.A. and Lamar, W.W. 1989. The venomous reptiles of Latin America. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.
• Campbell, J.A. and Lamar, W.W. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Comstock, Ithaca, New York and London, UK.
• Carnegie Institution of Washington publication. Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1902- ENG url p. 42, p. 45, p. 48, p. 51.
• Christman et al. (1998) Herpetological Review 29 (4): 249
• Conant and Collins (1991) Field Guide Rept. Amph. E/C North America, 3rd ed.
• Courtship and mating behavior in snakes, by D. Dwight Davis. ENG url p. 268.
• Edward H. Taylor: recollections of an herpetologist / Edward H. Taylor [et al.]. Lawrence: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, 1975. ENG url p. 129.
• Ernst, C.H. 1992. Venomous Reptiles of North America. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
• Ernst, C.H. and Ernst, E.M. 2003. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
• Field Museum news. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, [1930-1943] ENG url p. 3.
• Flores-Villela, Oscar / McCoy, C. J., ed. 1993. Herpetofauna Mexicana: Lista anotada de las especies de anfibios y reptiles de M and amp;eacute;xico, cambios taxon and amp;oacute;micos recientes, y nuevas especies. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication, no. 17. Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. iv + 73. ISBN: 0-911239-42-1.
• Gehlbach et al. (1957) Herpetologica 13: 227-232
• Gloyd (1936) Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich. (325): 1-5
• Gloyd et al. (1942) Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 6 (13): 231-235
• Grismer (1999) Herpetologica 55 (4): 446-469
• Grismer, L.L. 1999. An evolutionary classification of reptiles on islands in the Gulf of California, México. Herpetologica 55(4): 446-469.
• Grismer, L.L. 2002. Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, including its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortés. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.
• Hardy et al. (1995) Herpetological Review 26 (2): 101
• Harrison et al. (1998) Herpetological Review 29 (3): 176
• Kisser (1980) Herpetofauna 2 (5): 6-10
• Klauber (1938) Copeia 1938 (4): 191-197
• Klauber (1949) Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 11 (6): 61-116
• Klauber, L.M. 1972. Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind. Second edition. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.
• Lowe, C.H., Schwalbe, C.R. and Johnson, T.B. 1986. The Venomous Reptiles of Arizona. Arizona Game and Fish Department.
• McDiarmid et al. (1999) Snake species of the world, v.1.
• McDiarmid, Roy W., Jonathan A. Campbell, and T'Shaka A. Tour and eacute;1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. The Herpetologists' League. Washington, D.C., USA. xi + 511. ISBN: 1-893777-01-4.
• Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zo©logy, at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge [Mass.]: The Museum, 1876-1938. ENG url p. 113.
• Memorias y revista de la Sociedad Cient©fica "Antonio Alzate." Mexico: Imprenta del Gobierno en el Ex-Arzobispado, 1890-1931. SPA url p. 188.
• Occasional papers - San Diego Society of Natural History. San Diego, The Society. ENG url p. 3, p. 3, p. 9.
• Parkinson (1999) Copeia 1999 (3): 576-586
• Phyletic analysis of fifty characters of advanced snakes [by] Hymen Marx and George B. Rabb. [Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History]1972. ENG url p. 298, p. 300, p. 59.
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• The reptile book; a comprehensive popularised work on the structure and habits of the turtles, tortoises, crocodilians, lizards and snakes which inhabit the United States and northern Mexico. New York, Doubleday, Page, 1915. ENG url p. 428, p. 440, p. 448, p. 455.
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• Werler, J.E. and Dixon, J.R. 2000. Texas Snakes: Identification, Distribution, and Natural History. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas.
• Winchell (2007) Reptilia (Münster) 12 (4): 18-25

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 18, 2007.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 27, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 2 providers.
• Hammerson, G.A., Vazquez Díaz, J. and Quintero Díaz, G.E. 2007. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 19, 2008.
• Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2538259
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-8036
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 174314
• IUCN ID: 64324
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ARADE02070
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 177924

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