Common Sharptail Snake
Contia tenuis  (Baird & Girard, 1852)
Taxonomic Comments:
  • Feldman & Spicer (2002 Journal of Herpetology 36(4): 648-655), using mtDNA, presented evidence that this taxon consists of two distinct evolutionary lineages, a northern coastal species and an interior southern species; they decline to formally recognize them pending additional research.
  • Feldman & Hoyer (2010. A new species of snake in the genus Contia (Squamata: Colubridae) from California and Oregon. Copeia 2010(2): 254-267), using genetic and morphological evidence, described a new species, Contia longicaudae, from California and Oregon. Standard common name for C. tenuis becomes Common Sharptail Snake.

© 1994-2010, CNAH - Director - Joseph T. Collins Programmer/Webmaster - Travis W. Taggart
Accessed at: 9/2/2010 1:57:02 PM CT.