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Crotalus polystictus (COPE, 1865)

IUCN Red List - Crotalus polystictus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mexican Lancehead Rattlesnake
S: Hocico de Puerco 
SynonymCaudisona polysticta COPE 1865: 191
Crotalus polystictus COPE 1875
Crotalus ximenesii DUGÉS 1877 (fide COPE 1885: 179)
Crotalus Jimenezii DUGÉS 1877 (fide MCDIARMID et al. 1999: 291)
Crotalus polystictus — COPE 1885: 179
Crotalus polystictus — LINER 1994
Crotalus polystictus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 290
Crotalus polystictus — BEAMAN & HAYES 2008
Aechmophrys polystictus — HOSER 2009
Rattlewellsus polystictus — HOSER 2012 (preliminary)
Crotalus polystictus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 193 
DistributionC Mexico (from S Zacatecas and NE Colima to EC Veracruz, Aguascalientes, Morelos, Jalisco, Querétaro). Elevation: 1450-2600 m.

Type locality: "Table Land, Mexico." A proposed restriction to "Tupataro, Guanajuato, Mexico" was made by Smith and Taylor (1950:330). [However, type-locality restrictions other than those dealing with type- designations (i.e., lectotype or neotype) have no status under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: nondesignated, according to Klauber (1972:45), cited in McDiarmid et al. 1999.
Syntypes: MDUG (also as MADUG HE) 55, 356, USNM 24448, 26152 and 46508 [Crotalus Jimenezii] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (5231 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Distribution: Not in Durango fide Lemos-Espinal (2018).

Opinion 366 (ICZN, 1955, Opinions Decls. 11(16):231-244) validated the more generally used Cope name polystictus for this species and suppressed the older Jan name multimaculatus.

Nomenclature: Hoser’s 2009 classification and nomenclature has been rejected as unnecessary and unavailable by WÜSTER & BERNILS 2011. 
EtymologyNamed after Greek poly = many, large, frequent, and sticto = "spotted", refer to the uniform bright blue to greenish-blue dorsal spotting in adult males. 
References
  • Bañuelos-Alamillo, Jorge A., Rubén Alonso Carbajal-Márquez and Miguel Angel Olvera-Rivera. 2016. Distribution Notes. Crotalus polystictus (Cope, 1865). Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (1): 207 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Bryson, R.W., Jr. & D. Hartman 2005. An additional observation of aquatic behavior in the Mexican lance-headed rattlesnake (Crotalus polystictus) Bull. Maryland Herpetol. Soc., 41(2): 51-52. - get paper here
  • Calzada-Arciniega, Rafael Alejandro, Rafael Barzalobre Geronimo, Ernesto Recuero and Gabriela Parra-Olea. 2016. Crotalus polystictus (Mexican Lance-headed Rattlesnake) Diet. Herpetological Review 47 (2): 310 - get paper here
  • Campbell, J.A. & Lamar, W.W. 1989. The Venomous Reptiles of Latin America. Comstock Publishing/Cornell University Press, Ithaca
  • Carbajal-Márquez, Rubén A. and Gustavo E. Quintero-Díaz 2016. The Herpetofauna of Aguascalientes, México. Revista Mexicana de Herpetología 2(1):
  • Carbajal-Márquez, Rubén Alonso and Gustavo E. Quintero-Díaz. 2016. Crotalus polystictus. Diet. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (3): 741–742 - get paper here
  • Castro-Franco, Rubén, María Guasalupe Bustos-Zagal 1994. List of reptiles of Morelos, Mexico, and their distribution in relation to vegetation types. Southwestern Naturalist 39 (2): 171-175 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1866. Third contribution to the herpetology of tropical America. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 17: 185-198 [1865] - get paper here
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  • Figueroa-Huitrón, R., de la Vega-Pérez, A. D., Plasman, M., & Pérez-Mendoza, H. A. 2024. Physiological thermal responses of three Mexican snakes with distinct lifestyles. PeerJ, 12, e17705
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  • 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
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  • Lara-Galván, J. L., Martínez-Montoya, J. F., Sigala-Rodríguez, J. J., Esparza-Estrada, C. E., Rosas-Rosas, O. C., Ávila-Herrera, L., & Barbosa, A. M. 2020. Rattlesnake (Crotalus spp.) distribution and diversity in Zacatecas, Mexico ZooKeys, 1005, 103 - 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
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  • Leyte-Manrique, Adrian; Efrén M. Hernández Navarro y Luis A. Escobedo-Morales 2015. Herpetofauna de Guanajuato: Un análisis histórico y contemporáneo de su conocimiento. Revista Mexicana de Herpetología 1(1): 1–14
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  • Meik, Jesse M.; Jeffrey W. Streicher, Estrella Mociño-Deloya, Kirk Setser, and David Lazcano 2012. Shallow phylogeographic structure in the declining Mexican Lance-headed Rattlesnake, Crotalus polystictus (Serpentes: Viperidae). Phyllomedusa 11 (1): 3-12 - get paper here
  • Mociño-Deloya, Estrella and Kirk Setser. 2016. Crotalus polystictus (Mexican Lance-headed Rattlesnake) Diet. Herpetological Review 47 (2): 309 - get paper here
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  • Torres-Hernández, LA, Ramírez-Bautista A, Cruz-Elizalde R, Hernández-Salinas U, Berriozabal-Islas C, DeSantis DL, Johnson JD, Rocha A, García-Padilla E, Mata-Silva V, Fucsko LA, and Wilson LD. 2021. The herpetofauna of Veracruz, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 15(2) [General Section]: 72–155 - get paper here
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  • Vázquez Díaz, Joel;Quintero Díaz, Gustavo E. 2005. Anfibios y Reptiles de Aguascalientes [2nd ed.]. CONABIO, CIEMA, 318 pp.
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  • Wilson, Larry David;McCranie, James R. 1979. Notes on the herpetofauna of two mountain ranges in Mexico (Sierra Fria, Aguascalientes, and Sierra Morones, Zacatecas. Journal of Herpetology 13 (3): 271-278 - get paper here
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  • 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
 
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