You are here » home › advanced search › search results › Crotalus culminatus

Crotalus culminatus KLAUBER, 1952

iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Crotalus culminatus?

Add your own observation of
Crotalus culminatus »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaViperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Northwestern Neotropical Rattlesnake
S: Shunu
E: Tehuantepec Isthmus Neotropical rattlesnake [ehecatl] 
SynonymCrotalus durissus culminatus KLAUBER 1952: 65
Crotalus loeflingii HUMBOLDT 1811
Crotalus durissus durissus — KLAUBER 1941: 61, 64, 65, 67, 71
Crotalus durissus durissus — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 348
Crotalus durissus culminatus — DAVIS & SMITH 1953
Crotalus durissus durissus — ARMSTRONG & MURPHY 1979: 10
Crotalus durissus culminatus — CAMARILLO-RANGEL 1983
Crotalus durissus durissus — MCCRANIE 1993: 577.2 (Map 1), 577.5
Crotalus simus culminatus — CAMPBELL & LAMAR 2004
Crotalus simus simus — CAMPBELL & LAMAR 2004: 584 (Fig. 212), Plate 956
Crotalus culminatus — WÜSTER et al. 2005
Crotalus simus — SAVAGE et al. 2005: 370
Crotalus simus — WÜSTER et al. 2005: 1097 (Fig.1), 1103
Crotalus culminatus — QUIJADA-MASCAREÑAS & WÜSTER 2006
Caudisona culminatus — HOSER 2009
Crotalus culminatus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 189
Crotalus culminatus — HEIMES 2016: 439 (in part)
Crotalus ehecatl CARBAJAL-MÁRQUEZ, CEDEÑO-VÁZQUEZ, MARTÍNEZ-ARCE, NERI-CASTRO & MACHKOUR-M’RABET 2020
Crotalus simus — HEIMES 2016: 470 (in part), 492 (Fig. 619), 518 (Map 186)
Crotalus culminatus — REYES-VELASCO et al. 2022 
DistributionMexico (Michoacan, Oaxaca, Morelos, México, Puebla, Guerrero)

Type locality: Type locality: "Hacienda ... El Sabino near
Uruapan, Michoacan, Mexico."

ehecatl: Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca); Type locality: San José Tintonishac (16.29366°, 91.961840°; 1504 m asl), Las Margaritas, state of Chiapas, Mexico  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesHolotype: FMNH 126616 (formerly EHT-HMS 5224); Paratype SDNHM = SDSNH 43403
Holotype: ECO-CH-H-3778, Adult male, collected on 22 October of 2016 by Jorge Arturo Hidalgo García. Paratypes: Six specimens, all from Mexico. Chiapas: Juvenile female (ECO-CH-H-3777) collected 08 October of 2016 by J.A. Hidalgo García, in San José Tintonishac (16.2941°, -91.95931°; 1497 m asl), municipality of Las Margaritas; juvenile female (ECO-CH-H-3776) collected on 24 September of 2015 by T. Ramírez Valverde and R.A. Carbajal Márquez, at 12.2 km west of Chiapa de Corzo (16.706618°, -92.896292°; 1071 m asl), municipal- ity of Chiapa de Corzo. Oaxaca: adult female (SDSNH-24383) and adult male (MCZ-R-27819) collected on 1929 by W. W. Brown Jr., at San Pedro Tepanatepec (16.368660°, - 94.193445°; 63 m asl), municipality of San Pedro Tepanatepec; collected on July 1927 by W.W. Brown Jr., at San Pedro Tepanatepec (16.368660°, - 94.193445°; 63 m asl), municipality of San Pedro Tepanatepec. Adult female (MCZ-R-27821) collected July 1927 by Wilmot W. Brown Jr., at San Pedro Tepanatepec (16.368660°, - 94.193445°; 63 m asl), municipality of San Pedro Tep- anatepec. Adult male (MCZ-R-46485) collected on January 1942 by W. Barker near Santo Domingo Tehuantepec (16.324765°, -95.238529°; 52 m asl), municipality of Santo Domingo Tehuantepec. [ehecatl] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (6696 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentNomenclature: Hoser’s 2009 classification and nomenclature has been rejected as unnecessary and unavailable by WÜSTER & BERNILS 2011.

Synonymy: partly from CARBAJAL-MÁRQUEZ et al. 2022 (description of C. ehecatl). Reyes-Velasco et al. 2022 synonymized C. ehecatl with culminatus although all their ehecatl samples form a monophyletic clade (which is closely related to culminatus).

Species group: Crotalus durissus complex, which includes durissus, simus, culminatus, and tzabcan.

Habitat (ehecatl): open dry areas with rocky outcrops in tropical deciduous forest and seasonal rain forest

NCBI TaxonID: 2969139 [ehecatl]

Etymology (ehecatl): The specific epithet “ehecatl”, derives from the Nahuatl word “Ehēcatl” and means “The wind” or “Lord of the wind”. In Mexican mythology (Aztec), Ehécatl is the god of the wind. It is usually interpreted as one of the manifestations of Quetzalcóatl, the feathered serpent, taking the name of Ehécatl-Quetzalcóatl, appearing in the breath of living beings and in the breezes that bring the clouds with rain for the sowings. His breath starts the movement of the Sun, and brings life to what is inert. Also, he clears the way for Tláloc. The species name is used as an invariable noun in apposition to the generic name. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin culmen, the top, summit, roof, gable + Latin -atus, having the nature of. [“...Culminatus, Latin: having a ridge; referring to the accentuated vertebral process...”]. 
References
  • Aguilar-López JL, Luría-Manzano R, Pineda E, Canseco-Márquez L 2021. Selva Zoque, Mexico: an important Mesoamerican tropical region for reptile species diversity and conservation. ZooKeys 1054: 127-153 - get paper here
  • ARÉCHAGA-OCAMPO, SAMUEL; EDGAR E. NERI-CASTRO, CARLOS A. MONTALBÁN-HUIDOBRO & RUBÉN ALONSO CARBAJAL-MÁRQUEZ. 2021. CROTALUS CULMINATUS (Northwestern Middle American Rattlesnake). DIET. Herpetological Review 52 (3): 662–663. - get paper here
  • Armstrong, B.L., & Murphy, J.B. 1979. The natural history of Mexican rattlesnakes. Univ. Kansas Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist. (5): 88 pp.
  • Beaman, K.R. & Hayes, W.K. 2008. Rattlesnakes: Research Trends and Annotated Checklist. In: Hayes et al. (eds), The biology of rattlesnakes. Loma Linda University Press, pp. 5-16
  • Camarillo Rangel, J.L. 1983. New herpetological records from the state of Mexico. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 19(2):39-46 - get paper here
  • Campbell, Jonathan A. and William W. Lamar 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere, 2 vols. Comstock (Cornell University Press), Ithaca, NY, 962 pp. [review in Science 305: 182]
  • Carbajal-Márquez, Rubén Alonso, José Jesús Sigala-Rodríguez, Jorge Arturo Hidalgo-García, Juan José Ayala-Rodríguez & José Rogelio Cedeño-Vázquez. 2022. Natural History and Morphology of Crotalus ehecatl (Serpentes: Viperidae). Diversity 14(4): 242. - get paper here
  • CARBAJAL-MÁRQUEZ, RUBÉN ALONSO; JOSÉ ROGELIO CEDEÑO-VÁZQUEZ, ARELY MARTÍNEZ-ARCE, EDGAR NERI-CASTRO, SALIMA C. MACHKOUR- M’RABET 2020. Accessing cryptic diversity in Neotropical rattlesnakes (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalus) with the description of two new species. Zootaxa 4729 (4): 451–481 - get paper here
  • Davis, William B.; Smith, Hobart M. 1953. Snakes of the Mexican state of Morelos. Herpetologica 8: 133-149 - get paper here
  • García-Padilla, E., Heredia-López, I., Villalobos-Juárez, I., Lazcano, D., & Fucsko, L. A. 2025. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Mexico 48: From Sacred to Scorned---A Study of the Mexican Rattlesnake’s Changing Status. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society, 60(3), 25-30 - get paper here
  • García-Padilla, E., Mata-Silva, V., Villalobos-Juárez, I., López-Esquivel, E. A., Lavariega, M. C., Rocha, A., DeSantis, D. L., Melgar-Martínez, A. I., Johnson, J. D., Fucsko, L. A., Lazcano, D., & Wilson, L. D. 2022. Anfibios y reptiles de la región de los Chimalapas, Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, México:: composición, categorización distribucional, estado de conservación y significado para la biodiversidad. Biología Y Sociedad, 5(10), 37–76 - get paper here
  • Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 pp
  • Hoser, R. 2009. A reclassification of the rattlesnakes; species formerly exclusively referred to the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus. Australasian J. Herpetol. 3: 1-21 - get paper here
  • Klauber, Laurence M. 1941. A new species of rattlesnake from Venezuela. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 9 (30): 333-336 - get paper here
  • Klauber, Laurence M. 1952. Taxonomic studies on rattlesnakes of Mainland Mexico. Bulletins of the Zoological Society of San Diego (26): 1-143 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A conservation checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of the State of Mexico, Mexico with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 953: 137-159 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A conservation checklist of the herpetofauna of Morelos, with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 941: 121-144 - get paper here
  • Mata-Silva, V; Rocha, A; Mata-González, S; Ramírez-Bautista, A; Berriozabal-Islas, C; García-Padilla, E; Johnson, J D & Wilson, L D; 2019. First municipality records and additional information on the herpetofauna of Oaxaco, Mexico. Herpetological Review 50 (3): 533-536 - 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
  • McCranie J R 1993. Crotalus durissus Linnaeus, Neotropical rattlesnake. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 577: 1-11 - get paper here
  • OLIVEIRA-DALLAND, LUIS G.; LAURA R.V. ALENCAR, LEANDRO R. TAMBOSI, PAOLA A. CARRASCO, RHETT M. RAUTSAW, JESUS SIGALA-RODRIGUEZ, GUSTAVO SCROCCHI & MARCIO MARTINS. 2022. Conservation gaps for Neotropical vipers: Mismatches between protected areas, species richness and evolutionary distinctiveness. Biological Conservation 275(109750). - get paper here
  • Palacios-Aguilar, Ricardo & OSCAR FLORES-VILLELA 2018. An updated checklist of the herpetofauna from Guerrero, Mexico. Zootaxa 4422 (1): 1-24 - get paper here
  • Palacios-Aguilar, Ricardo, Thalia E. Cruz-Machuca and J. Diego Arias-Montiel. 2016. Crotalus culminatus (Klauber, 1952). Mexico, Estado de México. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3(4): 1067–1068 - get paper here
  • Peralta-Fonseca, Zabdiel A. and Elí García-Padilla 2015. Crotalus culminatus (Klauber, 1952). Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (2): 208 - get paper here
  • Quijada-Mascareñas & Wüster, W. 2006. On the Origins and Dispersal of Neotropical Rattlesnakes in South America. CAH/ACH Bulletin 14 (1): 6-12 - get paper here
  • Quijada-Mascareñas & Wüster, W. 2006. Crotalus durissus complex: from Yucatan to Patagonia: the natural history of the Neotropical rattlesnake. Reptilia (GB) (49): 66-73 - get paper here
  • RAMÍREZ-RAMÍREZ, V. A., MORALES-SÁNCHEZ, A. R. I. A. N. A., RAMÍREZ-RAMÍREZ, J. O. R. G. E., & MARTÍNEZ-CORONEL, M. A. T. I. A. S. 2023. First Geographic Distribution Records for Amphibians and Reptiles from the Jiménez Area, Municipality of San Marcos, Guerrero, México. Herpetological Review, 54(2), 251-254
  • Reyes-Velasco J., Cox C. L., Jones J. M., Borja M,, y Campbell J. A. 2022. How many species of rattlesnakes are there in the Crotalus durissus species group (Serpentes: Crotalidae)? Revista Latinoamericana de Herpetología 5 (1): 43-55 - get paper here
  • Riaño-García, M., E. García-Padilla, V. Mata-Silva, D. L. DeSantis, and L. D. Wilson. 2017. Crotalus culminatus Klauber, 1952. Mexico, Oaxaca. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4 (1): 202–203 - get paper here
  • Savage, J.M., Campbell, J.A. & Lamar, W.W. 2005. On names for neotropical rattlesnakes. Herpetological Review 36: 369– 371 - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M. & Taylor, Edward H. 1950. Type localities of Mexican reptiles and amphibians. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 33 (8): 313-380 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Woolrich-Piña, G. A., E. García-Padilla, D. L. DeSantis, J. D. Johnson, V. Mata-Silva, and L. D. Wilson 2017. The herpetofauna of Puebla, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4 (4): 791–884 - get paper here
  • Wüster, W. & Bérnils, R.S. 2011. On the generic classification of the rattlesnakes, with special reference to the Neotropical Crotalus durissus complex (Squamata: Viperidae). ZOOLOGIA 28 (4): 417–419 - get paper here
  • WÜSTER, WOLFGANG; JULIA E. FERGUSON; J. ADRIAN QUIJADA-MASCAREÑAS; CATHARINE E. POOK; MARIA DA GRAÇA SALOMÃO and ROGER S. THORPE 2005. Tracing an invasion: landbridges, refugia, and the phylogeography of the Neotropical rattlesnake (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalus durissus). Molecular Ecology 14: 1095–1108 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Crotalus&species=culminatus

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator