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Crotalus enyo

Crotalus enyo

Least Concern (IUCN)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Subfamily:	Crotalinae
Genus:	Crotalus
Species:	C. enyo

Binomial name

Crotalus enyo
(Cope, 1861)

Synonyms

Caudisona enyo - Cope, 1861
Crotalus enyo - Cope, 1875
[Crotalus oreganus] Var. enyo - Garman, 1884
Crotalus tigris - Boulenger, 1896
Crotalus confluentus enyo - Amaral, 1929
Crotalus enyo enyo - Lowe & Norris, 1954
Crotalus enyo - Beaman & Grismer, 1994^[1]

Common names: Baja California rattlesnake,^[2] Lower California rattlesnake.^[3]

Crotalus enyo is a venomous pitviper species native to the coast and islands of northwestern Mexico. Three subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.^[4]

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Description

The maximum reported length of this species is 89.8 cm (Klauber, 1972).^[2] It is sexually dimorphic, with the males typically being larger than the females.^[5] The head is remarkebly small and narrow, while the eyes are proportionately large.^[2]

Geographic range

Found in western Mexico. In the north it is found in the Baja California Peninsula from around Río San Telmo on the west coast and from opposite Isla Angel de la Guarda on the gulf coast, south to Cabo San Lucas. Also found on the following islands in the Gulf of California: San Marcos, Carmen, San José, San Francisco, Partida del Sur, Espírita Santo and Cerralvo. Off the pacific coast it is also found on the island of San Margarita. The type locality is "Cape San Lucas, Baja California Sur."^[1]

Habitat

Prefers desert, but in the northwestern part of its range it can be found in chaparral country, while in the cape region (Sierra de San Lázaro) it occurs in pine-oak and tropical deciduous forest. It can be found in rocky areas with arid thronscrub and cacti, but sometimes also in sand dunes. Often attracted to human habitation where it has been found in piles of refuse.^[2]

Conservation status

This species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001).^[6] Species are listed as such due to their wide distribution, presumed large population, or because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. The population trend is stable. Year assessed: 2007.^[7]

Feeding

Snakes of this species, regardless of their size, are known to eat small rodents, lizards, and centipedes. This is in contrast to many other rattlesnake species that prey on lizards almost exclusively as juveniles, switching to mammals as adults. With C. enyo, small snakes eat lizards more often than do large ones, and large snakes eat mammals more often than do small ones. Adults also prey on large centipedes of the genus Scolopendra.^[5]

Reproduction

Captive specimens have produced litters of 2-7 young. New born specimens with lengths of between 20.6 and 22.2 cm have been mentioned. Grismer (2002) reported finding neonates in the wild between late July and mid October, which would indicate that the species mates in the spring and gives birth in the summer or early fall.^[2]

Subspecies

Subspecies^[4]	Authority^[4]	Common name^[3]	Geographic range^[2]
C. e. cerralvensis	Cliff, 1954	Cerralvo Island rattlesnake	Isla Cerralvo in the Gulf of California.
C. e. enyo	(Cope, 1861)	Lower California rattlesnake	Baja California, Mexico, from about El Rosario southward down the peninsula.
C. e. furvus	Lowe & Norris, 1954	Rosario rattlesnake	Baja California, Mexico, from about Río San Telmo south to around El Rosario.

Taxonomy

All three of the current subspecies were recognized by Beaman and Grismer (1994) in their review, but indicated that C. e. furvus should not be considered a separate subspecies and that C. e. cerralvensis would best be considered a full species.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.
^ ^a ^b Klauber LM. 1997. Rattlesnakes: Their Habitats, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind. Second Edition. First published in 1956, 1972. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-21056-5.
^ ^a ^b ^c Crotalus enyo (TSN 585824). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 9 February 2007.
^ ^a ^b Diet of the Baja California Rattlesnake, Crotalus enyo (Viperidae) at APT-Online. Accessed 9 February 2007.
^ Crotalus enyo at the IUCN Red List. Accessed 13 September 2007.
^ 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1) at the IUCN Red List. Accessed 13 September 2007.

Category: Crotalus

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Crotalus_enyo". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.