Thamnophis foxi ROSSMAN & BLANEY, 1968
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Thamnophis foxi
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Natricinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Fox's Mountain Meadow Snake S: Pradera de Fox |
| Synonym | Adelophis foxi ROSSMAN & BLANEY 1968 Adelophis foxi — ROSSMAN & WALLACH 1987 Adelophis foxi — LINER 1994 Adelophis foxi — DE QUEIROZ et al. 2002 Adelophis foxi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 8 Thamnophis foxi — HALLAS et al. 2021 Thamnophis foxi — NUÑEZ et al. 2023 |
| Distribution | Mexico (Durango) Type locality: "from a meadow in pine forest (8,600 feet) 1/4 mi. E Mil Diez (approx. 2 mi. W El Salto), Durango, México." |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Holotype: LSUM 14330, a 419 mm female (D.A. Rossman and R.M. Blaney, 16 July 1966). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A species of natricine snake distinguished from its sole congener, Adelophis copei Dugès, by possessing 17-17-17 dorsal scale rows (15-15-15 in copei), a semidivided nasal (entirely divided in 6 of 8 cases in copei), a discrete loreal scale (fused with prefrontal in copei), longer anterior than posterior genials (posterior longer in copei), 4th and 5th supralabials of nearly equal size (5th equal to combined length of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in copei), six infralabials (five in copei), two posterior tem porals (one in copei), a proportionately longer muzzle (frontal only 28.3 to 28.6 per cent longer than muzzle1 in male foxi, 37.2 to 51.7 per cent longer in male copei?), a proportionately longer tail (23.4 to 25.6 per cent of total length in adult male foxi, 19.8 to 21.0 per cent in male copei), 20 or 21 maxillary teeth (23 of 24 in copei), a pair of dark paravertebral stripes (lacking in copei), and no light lateral stripe (present in copei). The combined characteristics of an undivided anal plate and no dorsal scale row reduction readily distinguish the genus Adelophis from all other New World natricines. (Rossman & Blaney 1968) Additional details (4022 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Phylogenetics: Adelophis foxi and its congener, A. copei, share several morphological characteristics not seen in Thamnophis, including the presence of only five supralabial scales (vs six or more in all Thamnophis) and a lack of reduction in dorsal scale row numbers posteriorly. In addition, both species of Adelophis have striping patterns unlike those of any Thamnophis, although they also differ from each other in this respect (Rossman and Blaney, 1968). However, all of these traits can be interpreted as autapomorphies of Adelophis as a whole or of A. foxi and A. copei individually. If this is the case, these traits would have no bearing on the relationships of Adelophis to other taxa. Interestingly, both species of Adelophis possess the one obvious morphological synapomorphy for Thamnophis, an undivided anal plate (Rossman and Blaney, 1968). Interestingly, Adelophis foxi is nested within Thamnophis by DNA analysis (De QUEIROZ et al. 2002, Hallas et al. 2021, Grünwald et al. 2024). Abundance: very rare. The species has not been collected since the 1970s (Grünwald et al. 2024). |
| Etymology | Named after Dr. Wade Fox Jr. (1920-1964), zoologist and herpetologist at the University of California, Berkeley until he died from a heart attack. |
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