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Rhinocheilus lecontei BAIRD & GIRARD, 1853

IUCN Red List - Rhinocheilus lecontei - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Lampropeltini, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Longnose Snake
lecontei: Western Longnose Snake
tessellatus: Texas Longnose Snake
G: Nasennatter
S: Culebra Nariz-larga Occidental 
SynonymRhinocheilus lecontei BAIRD & GIRARD 1853: 120
Rhinochilus [sic] lecontei — COPE 1867: 85
Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus GARMAN 1883: 74
Rhinocheilus tessellatus — GARMAN 1887: 128
Rhinochilus [sic] lecontei —VAN DENBURGH 1895: 142
Rhinocheilus lecontei — COPE 1900: 931
Rhinocheilus lecontei clarus KLAUBER 1941 (fide SHANNON & HUMPHREY)
Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945: 121
Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus — TAYLOR 1953
Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus — JAMESON & FLURY 1949
Rhinocheilus lecontei clarus — ZWEIFEL & NORRIS 1955
Rhinocheilus lecontei — STEBBINS 1985: 195
Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus — TANNER 1985: 640
Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus — MEHRTENS 1987: 202
Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 213
Rhinocheilus lecontei — LINER 1994
Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus — DIXON 2000
Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus — TENNANT & BARTLETT 2000: 455
Rhinocheilus lecontei — ERNST & ERNST 2003: 301
Rhinocheilus lecontei lecontei — LINER 2007
Rhinocheilus lecontei — CROTHER et al. 2012
Rhinocheilus lecontei — WALLACH et al. 2014: 649
Rhinocheilus lecontei — HEIMES 2016: 142 
DistributionUSA (California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico, SE Colorado, SW Kansas, Texas),
Mexico (Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Aguascalientes, Durango, Sinaloa, Nayarit etc.)

lecontei: USA (California, Nevada, Arizona), Mexico (Baja California Norte, N Sonora); Type locality: San Diego, California

tessellatus: USA (New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, SW Kansas); Mexico (Coahuila to San Luis Potosí and west to NE Chihuahua); Type locality: Monclova, Coahuila.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MCZ R-137; original publication refers to USNM 206, but USNM 206 is Phrynosoma hernandesi.
Holotype: MCZ 4577, young female, collected by Edward Palmer, 1880 [tesselatus] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (2479 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSubspecies: GRISMER (1999) elevated Rhinocheilus lecontei etheridgei to full species status based on squamation, but using an evolutionary species concept.MANIER (2004) found that no one subspecies was consistently divergent in all analyses, leading to the conclusion that the three mainland subspecies are not sufficiently distinct to warrant separate subspecies status. The island subspecies, though not always statistically distinct, is geographically separate from other populations and differs in characters related to size. Given the small number of specimens available, a decision regarding its taxonomic status (i.e. elevation to species level) is best deferred until additional specimens can be examined and data on molecular variation can be analysed.

Variation: R. lecontei is highly variable, which has led to the description of various subspecies (sometimes elevated to full species).

Mimicry: R. lecontei likely mimics coral snakes (Heimes 2016), e.g. Micruroides euryxanthus) and Micrurus tener (Place & Shrestha 2017).

Type species: Rhinocheilus lecontei BAIRD & GIRARD 1853 is the type species of the genus Rhinocheilus BAIRD & GIRARD 1853.

Phylogenetics: see Dahn et al. 2018 for a phylogeny of Lampropeltini. 
EtymologyThe species is named after Dr. John Lawrence Le Conte (1825-1883), an American entomologist, biologist, and physician during the American Civil War, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

The genus was named after the Greek words rhinos, meaning "snout" and chilos, meaning "lip," in reference to the condition ofthe snout, which extends beyond the lower lip.

The name tesselatus is a Latin word for "made of small square stones," alluding to the blotched pattern. 
References
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