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Crotalus pyrrhus (COPE, 1866)

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Higher TaxaViperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake
G: Südwestliche Gefleckte Klapperschlange
S: Vibora Blanca del Suroeste 
SynonymCaudisona pyrrha COPE 1866
Crotalus mitchellii mitchellii — STEJNEGER 1895
Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus — STEJNEGER 1895
Crotalus mitchellii muertensis KLAUBER 1949
Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus — STEBBINS 1985: 229
Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus — LINER 1994
Crotalus mitchellii muertensis — LINER 1994
Crotalus muertensis — GRISMER 1999
Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus — MATTISON 2007: 132
Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus — BEAMAN & HAYES 2008
Crotalus mitchellii muertensis — BEAMAN & HAYES 2008
Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus — LAITA 2013
Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus — LOVE 2015
Crotalus pyrrhus — MEIK et al. 2015 
DistributionUSA (S California, S Nevada, W Arizona, SW Utah), Mexico (NW Sonora, N Baja California)

Type locality: Not given in original description; given as "Canon Prieto, a locality near Fort Whipple [Yavapai County], Arizona" by Coues In Wheeler 1875: 608, and as "Canyon Prieto, Yavapai County, Arizona" [USA], by Klauber, 1956, Rattlesnakes, 1st ed., 1:708 pp.[38].

muertensis: Mexico (Baja Califronia: El Muerto Island)  
Reproductionviviparous. 
TypesHolotype: USNM 6606 (pyrrhus)
Holotype : SDNHM = SDSNH 37447; paratypes SDNHM = SDSNH [muertensis] 
Diagnosis 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: Grismer (1999) elevated angelensis and muertensis to full species status based on aspects of coloration, squamation, and size using an evolutionary species concept. However, he provides details only on some body measurements which are of little use without a larger number or specimen. Meik et al. 2015 found that muertensis nested within pyrrhus and thus considered both as synonymous. Listed as synonym of Crotalus mitchellii by WALLACH et al. 2014: 194.

Nomenclature: Hoser’s 2009 classification and nomenclature has been rejected as unnecessary and unavailable by WÜSTER & BERNILS 2011.

Distribution: see map in Meik et al. 2015: Fig. 1 
References
  • 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
  • Cope, E.D. 1867. On the REPTILIA and BATRACHIA of the Sonoran Province of the Nearctic Region. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 18 [1866]: 300-314 - get paper here
  • GARCÍA-PADILLA, ELI; JORGE H. VALDEZ VILLAVICENCIO, ANNY PERALTA GARCÍA 2018. Las Serpientes de Cascabel más allá del continente. Especies - get paper here
  • Gomard, Guillaume 2017. In steinigen Wüsten: die Herpetofauna Südkaliforniens. Terraria-Elaphe 2017 (6): 52-61 - get paper here
  • Grismer, L. Lee. 1999. An evolutionary classification of reptiles on islands in the Gulf of California, México. Herpetologica 55 (4): 446-469 - get paper here
  • Klauber, Laurence M. 1949. Some new and revived subspecies of rattlesnakes. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 11 (6): 61-116 - get paper here
  • Kwet, A. 2015. Gefleckte Klapperschlangen sind ein Artenkomplex. Reptilia (Münster) 20 (114): 6-7 - get paper here
  • Laita, Mark 2013. Serpentine. Abrams and PQ Blackwell, Auckland, New Zealand, 200 unnumbered pages
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Rorabaugh JC 2019. A conservation checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Sonora, Mexico, with updated species lists. ZooKeys 829: 131-160 - get paper here
  • Liner, E.A. 1994. Scientific and common names for the Amphibians and Reptiles of Mexico in English and Spanish. Herpetological Circular 23: 1-113
  • Love, B. 2015. Die Herp-Fotografie dreht durch. Reptilia (Münster) 20 (116): 16-17 - get paper here
  • Mattison, Chris 2007. The New Encyclopedia of Snakes. Princeton University Press
  • Meik JM, Streicher JW, Lawing AM, Flores-Villela O, Fujita MK 2015. Limitations of Climatic Data for Inferring Species Boundaries: Insights from Speckled Rattlesnakes. PLoS One 10 (6): e0131435; doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0131435 - get paper here
  • Meik, Jesse M. and Gordon W. Schuett 2016. Structure, Ontogeny, and Evolutionary Development of the Rattlesnake Rattle. - get paper here
  • Spinner, L. 2017. Die Klapperschlangen der USA in Natur und Terrarium. Reptilia (Münster) 22 (124): 18-33 - get paper here
  • Stebbins,R.C. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston
  • Stejneger, Leonard 1895. The Poisonous Snakes of North America. Report of the U. S. National Museum for 1893: 337-487 + 19 plates
  • Tellez, M. and C. Cochran 2017. Crotalus pyrrhus (Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake) Ectoparasitism. Herpetological Review 48 (2): 447-448 - get paper here
 
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