Common Sharptail Snake Contia tenuis  (Baird & Girard, 1852)
An adult specimen from El Dorado County, California, in a defense posture. Compliments of Greg Pauly, University of Texas at Austin. Image © Suzanne L. Collins, 2002
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.