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Clonophis kirtlandii (KENNICOTT, 1856)

IUCN Red List - Clonophis kirtlandii - Near Threatened, NT
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Natricinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Kirtland's Snake 
SynonymRegina kirtlandii KENNICOTT 1856: 95
Tropidonotus kirtlandii — GARMAN 1884: 28
Regina kirtlandii — GARMAN 1884: plate I
Ischnognathus kirtlandii — BOULENGER 1893: 286
Natrix kirtlandii — COPE 1900: 995
Natrix kirtlandii — WALKER 1931
Natrix kirtlandii — CONANT 1938
Natrix kirtlandii — CONANT 1943
Natrix kirtlandi — CLARK 1962
Clonophis kirtlandii — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 160
Clonophis kirtlandii — CROTHER 2000: 58
Chlonophis [sic] kirtlandii — HIGHTON et al. 2002
Nerodia kirtlandi
Clonophis kirtlandii — CROTHER et al. 2012
Clonophis kirtlandii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 171 
DistributionUSA (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, S Michigan, CN Kentucky, W Pennsylvania)

Type locality: "Northern Illinois." Restricted to West Northfield, Cook County, Illinois, by Conant, 1943: 317.  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesLectotype, USNM 1514, a 509 mm female (R.W. Kennicott), designated by Conant, 1943: 314. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): A genus of natricine snakes characterized by having: a dorsal pattern of four longitudinal rows of relatively large, dark, rounded blotches on a brown or grey-brown ground color; a red venter bearing a row of black spots along each lateral margin; the labials largely unmarked; a relatively short head, scarcely distinct from the neck; a moderately large pupil; the internasals broad anteriorly, the nares lateral; each naris relatively small and situated medially in the nasal scale; 5 or 6 supralabials; 19 scale rows at midbody; the anal plate divided; the short hemipenes single or weakly bilobed, each with a simple sulcus spermaticus; the maxillary teeth subequal, with all teeth relatively short, stout, and weakly curved; the posterior ends of the pterygoids practically nondivergent; no ventral process on the basioccipital; the parietal bone almost smooth, with no trace of a postero-median ridge; the prefrontal a little more than twice as high as it is long; no ventral keel on the parasphenoid; a well-developed interorbital foramen; the quadrate greatly expanded dorsally; the supratemporal somewhat reduced; the nasal bones greatly expanded, in relatively broad contact with the premaxilla and the frontal bones; a diet consisting largely, if not exclusively, of earthworms and slugs.(Rossman 1963)


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CommentNot listed by Craven & Knudsen (1996) and CNAH (2010, online) for Wisconsin.

Type species: Regina kirtlandii KENNICOTT 1856 is the type species of the genus Clonophis COPE 1889. 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Jared Potter Kirtland (1793-1877), an American naturalist, botanist, doctor, legislator, teacher, and writer. He founded the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Cleveland Medical College.

The genus was probably named after Greek clonos (κλώνός), branch or sprig (of a tree) + Greek ophis (ὄφις), a serpent, snake. 
References
  • Anton, Thomas G., Thomas F. Beauvais and Gary Casper. 2014. Geographic Distribution: Clonophis kirtlandii (Kirtland's snake). Herpetological Review 45 (3): 465 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Brown, Lauren E.; Funk, Richard S.; Moll, Don; Tucker, John K. 1975. Distributional notes on reptiles in Illinois. Herpetological Review 6 (3): 78-79 - get paper here
  • BRUST, T. J., M. ALDECOA, AND A. SEMASKO 2020. Clonophis kirtlandii (Kirtland’s Snake). Activity. Herpetological Review 51: 611.
  • 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
  • Clark, Donald R., Jr. 1962. A westward extension of the known range of Natrix kirtlandi. Herpetologica 17 (4): 279 - get paper here
  • Conant, R. 1943. Studies on North American water snakes—I. Natrix kirtlandii (Kennicott). American Midland Naturalist 29 (2): 313–341 - get paper here
  • Conant, R. 1951. The reptiles of Ohio, 2.ed. Univ. of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN 284 pp. - get paper here
  • Conant, Roger 1938. The Reptiles of Ohio. American Midland Naturalist 20 (1): 1-200 - get paper here
  • Conant,R. & Collins,J.T. 1991. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin (Boston/New York), xx + 450 p.
  • Cope, E.D. 1900. The crocodilians, lizards and snakes of North America. Ann. Rep. U.S. Natl. Mus. 1898: 153-1270 - get paper here
  • Craven, S.R. & Knudsen, G.J. 1996. Snakes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin.
  • Cross, M D & Morrison, J C; 2019. Geographic Distribution: Clonophis kirtlandii (Kirtland’s Snake) USA: Ohio: Fulton Co. Herpetological Review 50 (1): 105 - get paper here
  • Cross, M D; Schoen, J C; Bekker, K A & Seymour, M 2018. Clonophis kirtlandii (Kirtland's Snake) Diet. Herpetological Review 49 (2): 336-337 - get paper here
  • Cross, M.D. & Bekker, K.A. 2017. Clonophis kirtlandii (Kirtland’s Snake) Site fidelity and clutch size. Herpetological Review 48 (3): 668. - get paper here
  • Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92
  • Ernst, C.H., & Barbour, R.W. 1989. Snakes of eastern North America. George Mason Univ. Press, Fairfax, VA 282 pp.
  • Frymire, D. & Scott, A. F. 2012. Geographic distribution: Clonophis kirtlandii (Kirtland's snake). Herpetological Review 43: 447 - get paper here
  • Garman, Samuel 1884. The reptiles and batrachians of North America. Mem. Mus. comp. Zool, Cambridge (Massachusetts), 8 (3): xxxiv + 185 pp. [1883] [CNAH reprint 10] - get paper here
  • Highton, R.; Hedges, S.B.; HAss, C.A. & Dowling, H.G. 2002. Snake relationships revealed by slowly-evolving proteins: further analysis and a reply. Herpetologica 58 (2): 270-275 - get paper here
  • Kennicott, R. 1856. Description of a new snake from Illinois. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 8: 95-96 - get paper here
  • King, Richard B.; Oldham, Michael J.; Weller, Wayne F.; Wynn, Douglas. 1997. Historic and current amphibian and reptile distributions in the Island Region of Western Lake Erie. American Midland Naturalist 138(1):153-173 - get paper here
  • KLUEH-MUNDY, S., AND J. J. MIRTL 2020. Geographic Distribution: Clonophis kirtlandii (Kirtland’s Snake). USA: Indiana: Scott Co. Herpetological Review 51: 543.
  • Lovich, J.E. & Jaworski, T.R. 1988. Annotated checklist of Amphibians and Reptiles reported from Cedar Bog, Ohio. Ohio J. Sci. 88 (4): 139-143 - get paper here
  • Maxwell, J.R., Nelson, J.P. & Scott, A.F. 2017. Geographic Distribution: Clonophis kirtlandii (Kirtland's Snake). Herpetological Review 48 (3): 589. - get paper here
  • McVay, John David; Bryan Carstens 2013. Testing monophyly without well-supported gene trees: Evidence from multi-locus nuclear data conflicts with existing taxonomy in the snake tribe Thamnophiini. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 68, Issue 3, September 2013, Pages 425–431 - get paper here
  • O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
  • Phillips, JG 2016. Updated Geographic Distributions of Michigan Herpetofauna: a Synthesis of Old and New Sources. The Journal of North American Herpetology 2016: 45–69 - get paper here
  • Pyron, R.Alexander; Frank T. Burbrink 2009. Neogene diversification and taxonomic stability in the snake tribe Lampropeltini (Serpentes: Colubridae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52 (2): 524-529 - get paper here
  • Reichenbach, N.G. & Dalrymple, G.H. 1981. Herpetological records from a relict prairie in Ohio. Herpetological Review 12 (1): 15 - get paper here
  • Rosenhoffer, Todd and Paul J. Krusling. 2010. Geographic distribution: Clonophis kirtlandii. Herpetological Review 41 (3): 379 - get paper here
  • Rossman D A; Powell R 1985. Clonophis Cope. Kirtland's snake. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 364: 1-2 - get paper here
  • Rossman, Douglas A. 1963. Relationships and taxonomic status of the North American natricine snake genera Liodytes, Regina and Clonophis. Occasional papers of the Museum of Zoology, Louisiana State University (29): 1-29 - get paper here
  • Shupe, Scott; Zimmerer, Ed 1998. Geographic Distribution. Clonophis kirtlandii. Herpetological Review 29 (1): 53 - get paper here
  • Stewart, T. M., A. R. Kuhns, C. A. Phillips, J. A. Crawford, and M. J. Dreslik. 2023. Estimating the effort required to detect Kirtland's snakes (Clonophis kirtlandii). Wildlife Society Bulletin e1498 - get paper here
  • STRUECKER, BROCK P.; ADAM H. BALZER & CODY A. BANKS. 2021. Geographic distribution: CLONOPHIS KIRTLANDII (Kirtland’s Snake). USA: INDIANA: LaGrange Co. Herpetological Review 52 (3): 578. - get paper here
  • Terrell, Vanessa C., Jaimie L. Klemish, Nathan J. Engbecht, John A. May, Peter J. Lannoo, Rochelle M. Stiles, and Michael J. Lannoo. 2014. Amphibian and reptile colonization of reclaimed coal spoil grasslands. The Journal of North American Herpetology 2014(1):59-68 - get paper here
  • Tucker, J.K. 1977. Notes on the Food Habits of Kirtland's Water Snake, Clonophis kirtlandi Bull. Maryland Herpetol. Soc., 13(3): 193-195. - get paper here
  • Walker, C. 1931. Notes on Reptiles in the Collection of the Ohio State Museum. Copeia 1931 (1): 9-13 - 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.
  • Watkins-Colwell, Gregory J. 1994. Clonophis kirtlandii (Kirtland's snake). USA: Ohio. Herpetological Review 25 (1): 33 - get paper here
 
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