Texas Lyre Snake
Trimorphodon vilkinsonii Cope, 1886
Also calledSerpiente de Tetalura (spa) · Texas-Lyraschlange (deu) · limacoa de Texas (spa) · 德州琴蛇 (zho)
First described in: Cope, E. D. Thirteenth contribution to the herpetology of tropical America.
The Texas lyre snake (Trimorphodon vilkinsonii) is a species of mildly venomous, rear-fanged snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the southwestern United States and adjacent northern Mexico.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The Texas lyre snake is a medium-sized snake, attaining a total length (including tail) of approximately 1 meter (39 inches) at adult size. It is brown, tan or gray with 17-24 dark brown blotches down the back. It has large eyes with vertical pupils. The common name, "lyre snake", refers to a distinctive V-shaped pattern on the head which resembles the shape of a lyre. However, this particular subspecies (T. b. vilkinsonii ) has no V mark on the head.
Range & habitat
T. vilkinsonii is found in the United States in the Big Bend region of Texas and southern New Mexico, and in Mexico in northeastern Chihuahua.
What it does
Lyre snakes of the genus Trimorphodon are nocturnal, spending most of their time hiding in rock crevices, emerging to feed mainly on lizards, and also on small rodents, frogs, bats and birds. Their venom is not considered to be harmful to humans. Also, if their venom is not fatal to their prey, they may kill by constriction.
In human culture
The epithet vilkinsonii is in honor of amateur American naturalist Edward Wilkinson, who collected the first specimen near the city of Chihuahua.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Trimorphodon vilkinsonii in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
From the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence records (GBIF.org), with Wikipedia and the Source Library. GBIF species 2455927.