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Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Boidae  

Rubber Boa
Charina bottae (Blainville, 1835)

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 The subspecific inclusion of C. b. umbratica necessitated the change in English name from "Northern Rubber Boa".

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.02.16.08.26.26)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.71 MB

Province/State Distribution:
Canada: British Columbia
USA: California Idaho Montana Nevada Oregon Utah Washington Wyoming

First instance(s) of published English names:
Brown Wood Snake (Wenona plumbea: Cooper, James G., George Suckley, William Cooper, George Gibbs, Asa Gray, and John L. Le Conte. 1859. The natural history of Washington territory, with much relating to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oregon, and California, between the thirty-sixth and forty-ninth parallels of latitude, being those parts of the final reports on the survey of the Northern Pacific railroad route, containing the climate and physical geography, with full catalogues and descriptions of the plants and animals collected from 1853 to 1857. Bailliere Bros., London, H. Bailliere;, New York, New York. pp.); Botte's Worm Snake (Charina bottae: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Lead-colored Worm Snake (Charina plumbea: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Rubber Snake (Charina bottae: Van Denburgh, John. 1897. The reptiles of the Pacific Coast and Great Basin: An account of the species known to inhabit California, and Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences 5():9-236); Botta's Snake (Charina bottae: Brown, Arthur, E. 1902. Report of the Board of Directors. Pages 5-22 in Thirtieth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia. Allen, Lane, and Scott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. pp.); Ball Snake (Charina bottae: Stejneger, Leonhard H. and Thomas Barbour. 1917. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp.); Pacific Rubber Snake (Charina bottae bottae: Van Denburgh, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); Great Basin Rubber Snake (Charina bottae utahensis: Van Denburgh, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); Rubber Snake (Charina bottae: Schmidt, Karl Peterson and D. D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. C.P. Putnam and Sons, New York. 365pp.); Rubber Boa (Charina bottae: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Rocky Mountain Rubber Boa (Charina bottae utahensis: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Charina bottae bottae (Pacific Rubber Boa: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1835 Blainville, Henri-Marie Ducrotay. Description de quelques espèces de reptiles de la Californie: Précédée de l'analyse d'un systéme général d'erpétologie et d'amphibiologie. [Description of some species of reptiles from California: Preceded by the analysis of a general system of herpetology and amphibiology.] Nouvelles Annales Du Museum D'Histoire Naturelle, Paris [ New Annals of the Natural History Museum, Paris] 3(2):233-296
1933 Tanner, Vasco M. A study of the variation of the dorsal scale rows of Charina bottae (Blainville). Copeia 1933(2):81-84
1943 Klauber, Laurence M. The subspecies of the Rubber Snake, Charina. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 10(7):83-90
1974 Hoyer, Richard F. Description of a rubber boa (Charina bottae) population from western Oregon. Herpetologica 30(3):275-283
1974 Nussbaum, R. A., and R. F. Hoyer. Geographic variation and the validity of subspecies in the rubber boa, Charina bottae (Blainville). Northwest Scientist 48:219-229
1974 Erwin, D. B. Taxonomic status of the southern rubber boa, Charina bottae umbratica. Copeia 1974(4):996-997
1977 Stewart, Glenn R. Charina, C. bottae. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (205):1-2
1988 Weisman, Cathy M. Morphometric and electrophoretic comparison between the Pacific rubber boa (Charina bottae bottae) and the southern rubber boa (Charina bottae umbratica). Dissertation. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California. 44pp.
1991 Stewart, G. R. Status of the southern rubber boa (Charina bottae umbratica) in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. Contract number 10120-87-00342. October 1, 1990. Revised March 1, 1991. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Laguna Niguel Field Office. pp.
2000 Hoyer, Richard F. and Glenn R. Stewart. Biology of the rubber boa (Charina bottae), with emphasis on C. b. umbratica. Part I: Capture, size, sexual dimorphism, and reproduction. Journal of Herpetology 34(3):348-354
2000 Hoyer, Richard F. and Glenn R. Stewart. Biology of the Rubber Boa (Charina bottae), with Emphasis on C. b. umbratica. Part II: Diet, Antagonists, and Predators. Journal of Herpetology 34(3):354-360
2001 Rodriguez-Robles, Javier A., Glenn R. Stewart and Theodore J. Papenfuss Mitochondrial DNA-Based Phylogeography of North American Rubber Boas, Charina bottae (Serpentes: Boidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 18(2):227–237
2006 Feldman, Chris R. and Greg S. Spicer. Comparative phylogeography of woodland reptiles in California: Repeated patterns of cladogenesis and population expansion. Molecular Ecology 15(8):2201–2222
2021 United States Fish and Wildlife Service, USFWS Species Status Assessment Report for the Southern Rubber Boa (Charina umbratica), Version 1.1. Carlsbad Ecological Services Field Office, Carlsbad, California. 72pp.
2022 Grismer, Jesse, Peter Scott, Erin Toffelmier, Brian Hinds, Randy Klabacka, Glenn Stewart, Virginia White, Jamie Oaks, and H. Bradley Shaffer. Genomic data reveal local endemism in Southern California Rubber Boas (Serpentes: Boidae, Charina) and the critical need for enhanced conservation actions. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 174(107542):1-17
2024 Pillod, David S., Michelle I. Jeffries, Robert S. Arkle, and Deanna H. Olson. Climate futures for lizards and snakes in western North America may result in new species management issues Ecology and Evolution 14(10):1-23

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 27 April 2025 12:25 CT