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Rhadinaea hesperia BAILEY, 1940

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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Western Graceful Brown Snake
S: Culebra Rayada Occidental 
SynonymRhadinaea hesperia BAILEY 1940
Rhadinaea hesperia baileyi SMITH 1942
Rhadinaea hesperia hesperioides SMITH 1942
Rhadinaea hesperia hesperia — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945: 117
Rhadinaea hesperia baileyi — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945: 117
Rhadinaea hesperia hesperioides — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945: 117
Rhadinaea hesperia hesperioides — HARDY 1969: 194
Rhadinaea hesperia hesperioides — TANNER 1985: 639
Rhadinaea hesperia — LINER 1994
Rhadinaea hesperia — LINER 2007
Rhadinaea hesperia — WALLACH et al. 2014: 640 
DistributionMexico (Oaxaca, Michoacan to Morelos, Colima, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes [HR 30: 236], Puebla, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Nayarit, Guanajuato)

Type locality: Omilteme and Sierra de Burro, Guerrero.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MCZ 42661, adult male
Holotype: USNM 67373 [Rhadinaea hesperia hesperioides] 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIs: This is a slender, long-tailed species (more than 100 subcaudals, and tail comprising about 32-42 percent of total length). Color pattern is variable, but the species can be distinguished from all other members of the decorata group by the combined presence of narrow dark lines on at least the vertebral row and fifth lateral rows; there is a white line on the canthus rostralis and behind the eye, but it does not extend onto the neck. Rhadinaea decorata has a line on row 5 but lacks a definite, narrow vertebral line, although there may be a wider vertebral streak; Mexican populations of R. decorata also are characterized by a distinctive head pattern. Other members of the decorata group have the lateral marking lower on the body (fig. 11).
Rhadinaea hesperia is geographically isolated from other species of the decorata group but occurs at least macrosympatrically with members of the taeniata group. These are larger snakes that have a dark stripe (not a narrow line) on the side and their ventral plates are basically pale from one side to the other, although dark dots may be present on the tips of the ventrals. Rhadinaea hesperia has an encroachment of the brown or blackish body color onto the ends of the ventrals.
Although the presence of a dark, thin lateral line on row 5 is stressed as being diagnostic, the following points should be noted: the lateral line may be obscure on some individuals, but in these the sides are dark up to the middle of row 5, or else the line is low on row 5 and interrupted by the tops of the scales in row 4. Other individuals. show a slight intensification of brown pigment between the blackish line on row 5 and a dark brown line on row 4, and thus give the appearance of having a dark-edged, lateral brown stripe; such specimens should not be confused with some members of the taeniata group (R. fulvivittis and some juvenile R. omiltemana) that have broader, dark-edged brown stripes on rows 3-5. (Myers 1974: 81)


Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data. However, these details, e.g. detailed descriptions (about between half a page and a page) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us if you need any of this material. 
CommentGroup: Rhadinaea decorata group 
EtymologyFrom the Greek hésperos meaning Western in reference to its geographical distribution in western Mexico. 
References
  • Bailey, Joseph R. 1940. The mexican snakes of the genus Rhadinaea. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (412): 1-19 - get paper here
  • Canseco-Márquez, L., & Gutiérrrez-Mayén, M.G. 2010. Anfibios y reptiles del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán. Comisión Nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad, México D.F., Mexico, 302 pp - get paper here
  • Canseco-Marquez,L.; Gutierrez-Mayen,G. & Salazar-Arenas,J. 2000. New records and range extensions for amphibians and reptiles from Puebla, México. Herpetological Review 31 (4): 259-263 - get paper here
  • Carbajal-Márquez, Rubén A. and Gustavo E. Quintero-Díaz 2016. The Herpetofauna of Aguascalientes, México. Revista Mexicana de Herpetología 2(1):
  • Casas-Andreu, G., F.R. Méndez-De la Cruz and X. Aguilar-Miguel. 2004. Anfibios y Reptiles; pp. 375–390, in A.J.M. García-Mendoza, J. Ordoñez and M. Briones-Salas (ed.). Biodiversidad de Oaxaca. Instituto de Biología, UNAM-Fondo Oaxaqueño para la Conservación de la Naturaleza-World Wildlife Fund, México, D. F.
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  • García-Vázquez UO, Pavón-Vázquez CJ, Blancas-Hernández JC, Blancas-Calva E, Centenero-Alcalá E 2018. A new rare species of the Rhadinaea decorata group from the Sierra Madre del Sur of Guerrero, Mexico (Squamata, Colubridae). ZooKeys 780: 137-154 - get paper here
  • Hardy, L.M., & McDiarmid, R.W. 1969. The amphibians and reptiles of Sinaloa, Mexico. Univ. Kansas Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist. 18 (3): 39-252. - get paper here
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  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Sinaloa, Mexico with a conservation status summary and comparisons with neighboring states. ZooKeys 931: 85-114 - get paper here
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  • Loc-Barragán, J. A. 2024. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico 6: Amphibians and Reptiles of the Municipality of Bahía de Banderas. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society, 59(5), 65-74
  • Loc-Barragán, J; Arciniega, R A C; Alfaro-Juantorena, L A & Jiménez-Arcos, V H 2018. Geographic Distribution: Rhadinaea hesperia (Western Graceful Brown Snake). Herpetological Review 49 (3): 507 - get paper here
  • Luja VH, López JA, Cruz-Elizalde R, Ramírez-Bautista A 2017. Herpetofauna inside and outside from a natural protected area: the case of Reserva Estatal de la Biósfera Sierra San Juan, Nayarit, Mexico. Nature Conservation 21: 15-38 - get paper here
  • Mata-Silva, Vicente, Jerry D. Johnson, Larry David Wilson and Elí García-Padilla. 2015. The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: composition, physiographic distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (1): 6–62 - get paper here
  • Myers, C.W. 1974. The systematics of Rhadinaea (Colubridae), a genus of New World snakes. Bull. Amer. Mus. nat. Hist. 153 (1): 1-262 - get paper here
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