western coachwhip (Phoenix Zoo - Arizona Trail)

western coachwhip

Coluber flagellum

Summary ²

Masticophis flagellum is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake, commonly referred to as the coachwhip or the whip snake, which is endemic to the United States and Mexico. Seven subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies.

Range description ³

Based on the few known specimens, this rarely recorded species probably has a wide distribution in the southern Zagros Mountains and their foothills (SchÃ¤tti 2001; Rajabizadeh and Rastegar-Pouyani 2006). The type specimen was taken from somewhere between Shiraz, Kazerun and Takt-e Jamshid (Persepolis) in Fars Province, southwestern Iran (SchÃ¤tti 2001; Rajabizadeh and Rastegar-Pouyani 2006). It has also been recorded from the Chambachid valley on the southern side of the river and on the Paris Massive, five kilometres south of Gharun station, in Lorestan Province (SchÃ¤tti 2001; Rajabizadeh and Rastegar-Pouyani 2006); and from the locality of Siah makan junction, 57 km northwest of Genaveh city on the road to Behbahan, Bushehr Province (Rajabizadeh and Rastegar-Pouyani 2006. It has also been collected from two localities in Kermanshah Province, without exact localities (Rajabizadeh and Rastegar-Pouyani 2006). Specimens in the southern Zagros Mountains have been collected at around 1,650-3,100 m asl. The specimen from Bushehr Province was collected at an elevation of <100 m asl close to the Persian Gulf (Rajabizadeh and Rastegar-Pouyani 2006).

Iucn red list assessment ⁴

Red List Category

Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2009

Assessor/s

Steven C. Anderson, Theodore Papenfuss, Mozafar Sharifi

Reviewer/s

Neil Cox and Helen Temple

Contributor/s

Justification

Although this little species is known mainly from isolated records from a large area, it is listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large overall population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

Fuentes y créditos

(c) Kerry Matz, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/47456931@N07/4365148317
(c) Wikipedia, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masticophis%20flagellum
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28063578
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28063577