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Thamnophis errans SMITH, 1942

IUCN Red List - Thamnophis errans - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Natricinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mexican Wandering Garter Snake
G: Mexikanische Wander-Strumpfbandnatter
S: Jarretera Errante Mexicana 
SynonymThamnophis ordinoides errans SMITH 1942: 112
Thamnophis ordinoides errans — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945
Thamnophis errans — SMITH 1950: 374
Thamnophis elegans errans — TANNER 1959
Thamnophis elegans errans — WEBB 1984
Thamnophis elegans errans — TANNER 1985: 656
Thamnophis errans — ROSSMAN et al. 1996: 178
Thamnophis errans — ROSSMAN & BURBRINK 2005
Thamnophis errans — JOHNSON et al. 2017 
DistributionMexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit)

Type locality: Colonia Garcia, Chihuahua.  
Reproductionovoviviparous. 
TypesHolotype: USNM 46336, female; paraypes: FMNH; collection Date: July 1899. Paratypes: (n=5) Three topotypes, USNM 46337-9, and two from Coyotes, Durango FMNH 1499A-B. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A member of the ordinoides group, with 19-19-17 scale rows and maxil­ lary teeth 17 or 18, the posterior not con­ spicuously enlarged, although a little longer than the anterior teeth; ventrals 155 to 166 (155-156, females; 163-166, males); caudals 72 to 91 (72 to 82, females; 85 to 91, males); supralabials seven or eight; sixth labial large and not narrowed above; stripes very poorly defined as a rule, median stripe generally covering but one scale row where visible; spots between stripes small, those of the outer row usually very poorly de­ fined or absent; top of head dark, the color extending onto sides; supralabial region light, except for black posterior edges on most of the labials; a vaguely darker, longi­ tudinal line through lower temporal region. (Smith 1942: 112)


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CommentDiet: see Heptinstall et al. 2024 
EtymologyNamed after Latin “errans” = wandering, stray, apparently because this species represented “ the first specimens recorded from mainland Mexico (i.e., exclu­sive of Baja California) of the ordinoides group.” (Smith 1942: 113, but otherwise not explicitly explained). 
References
  • Burbrink FT, Futterman I. 2019. Female‐ biased gape and body-size dimorphism in the New World watersnakes (tribe: Thamnophiini) oppose predictions from Rensch's rule. Ecol Evol. 00:1–10
  • Cruz-Sáenz, D., F. J. Muñoz-Nolasco, V. Mata-Silva, J. D. Johnson, E. García-Padilla, and L. D. Wilson. 2017. The herpetofauna of Jalisco, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4 (1): 23–118 - get paper here
  • Grünwald, C. I., María del Carmen, G., Grünwald, A. J., Montaño-Ruvalcaba, C., Franz-Chávez, H., García-Vázquez, U. O., & Reyes-Velasco, J. 2024. A new species of Thamnophis (Serpentes, Colubridae) from Jalisco, Mexico, with a discussion on the phylogeny, taxonomy, and distribution of snakes related to Thamnophis scalaris. Herpetozoa, 37, 157-179 - get paper here
  • HALLAS, JOSHUA M.; THOMAS L. PARCHMAN & CHRIS R. FELDMAN. 2021. Phylogenomic analyses resolve relationships among garter snakes (Thamnophis: Natricinae: Colubridae) and elucidate biogeographic history and morphological evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 107374. [2022 in print] - get paper here
  • Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 pp
  • Heptinstall, Tucker C.; Ramses A. Rosales-Garcia, Rhett M. Rautsaw, Erich P. Hofmann, Alan De Queiroz, Luis Canseco-Márquez & Christopher L. Parkinson 2024. Size Doesn't Matter: Body Size is Not Linked to Diet Specialization in Garter Snakes (Squamata: Natricidae: Thamnophis) Journal of Herpetology 58 (2): 122-134 - get paper here
  • Johnson, J. D., L. D. Wilson, V. Mata-Silva, E. García-Padilla, and D. L. DeSantis. 2017. The endemic herpetofauna of Mexico: organisms of global significance in severe peril. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4 (3): 544–620 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Gadsden-Esparza H, Valdez-Lares R, Woolrich-Piña GA 2018. Amphibians and reptiles of the state of Durango, Mexico, with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 748: 65-87 - get paper here
  • Loc-Barragán JA, Smith GR, Woolrich-Piña GA, Lemos-Espinal JA 2024. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nayarit, Mexico with conservation status and comparison with adjoining States. Herpetozoa 37: 25-42 - get paper here
  • Rossman, D.A. & Burbrink, F.T. 2005. Species limits within the Mexican garter snakes of the Thamnophis godmani complex. Occ. Papers Mus. Nat. Science (79): 1-43 - get paper here
  • Rossman, Douglas A.; Ford, Neil B. & Seigel, Richard A. 1996. The Garter Snakes: Evolution and Ecology. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, xx + 332 + pp.
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1942. The synonymy of the garter snakes (Thamnophis), with notes on Mexican and Central American species. Zoologica, Scientific Contributions of the New York Zoological Society 27 (3 and 4): 97-123 - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M.; Nixon, C. William; Smith, Philip W. 1950. Mexican and Central American garter snakes (Thamnophis) in the British Museum (Natural History). Zool. J. Linnean Soc. 41 (282): 571-584 - get paper here
  • Tanner, Wilmer W. 1959. A new Thamnophis from western Chihuahua with notes on four other species. Herpetologica 15 (4): 165-172 - get paper here
  • Tanner, Wilmer W. 1985. Snakes of Western Chihuahua. Great Basin Naturalist 45 (4): 615-676 - get paper here
  • Van Devender, Thomas R.; Lowe, Charles H. Lowe, Jr. 1977. Amphibians and reptiles of Yepomera, Chihuahua, Mexico. Journal of Herpetology 11 (1): 41-50 - get paper here
  • Webb, R.G. 1984. Herpetogeography in the Mazatlán-Durango Region of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico. Vetrebrate Ecology and Systematics - A ribute to Henry S. Fitch; Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, pp. 217-241
  • Woolrich-Piña, Guillermo A, Paulino Ponce-Campos, Jesús Loc-Barragán, Juan Pablo Ramírez-Silva, Vicente Mata-Silva, Jerry D. Johnson, Elí García-Padilla and Larry David Wilson. 2016. The herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (2): 376-448 - get paper here
 
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