THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Crotalidae  

Mohave Rattlesnake
Crotalus scutulatus (Kennicott, 1861)

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Schield et al. (2018, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 127: 669–681), using thousands of ddRAD loci and mtDNA found four lineages within C. scutulatus, with the deepest node differentiating Mexican Plateau populations + C. s. salvini from those to the north. The northern populations formed two lineages on either side of the Continental Divide; the authors state that current taxonomy does not capture the diversity within C. scutulatus but they do not specifically recommend taxonomic changes. See also Myers et al. (2017, Journal of Biogeography 44: 461–474) and Myers et al. (2019, Molecular Ecology 28: 4535–4548). Note, Myers et al. (2019, op. cit.) did not find structure at the continental divide. Watson et al. (2019, Zootaxa 4683: 129–143) evaluated morphology throughout the geographic range and found that variation was clinal without discrete character change at genetic boundaries. They recommended retention of the two classic subspecies.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.08.12.46.05)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.3 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Arizona California Nevada New Mexico Texas Utah

First instance(s) of published English names:
Scutulated Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus scutulatus: 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); Mohave Rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus: 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.); Shield-headed Rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Mojave Rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus: 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:
1861 Kennicott, Robert On three new forms of rattlesnakes. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 13:206-207
1940 Gloyd, Howard K. The rattlesnakes, genera Sistrurus and Crotalus. Chicago Academy of Sciences Special Publication 4(1):1-266
1947 Woodbury, Angus M. and Ross Hardy. The Mohave rattlesnake in Utah. Copeia 1947(1):66
1956 Klauber, Laurence M. Rattlesnakes. Their habits, life histories, and influence on mankind. 2 Volumes. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. pp.
1972 Klauber, Laurence M. Rattlesnakes. Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind. 2 Vols. 2nd ed. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles. pp.
1972 Baker, Robert J., George A. Mengden, and James J. Bull. Karyotypic studies of thirty-eight species of North American snakes . Copeia 1972(2):257-265
1982 Price, Andrew Hoyt Crotalus scutulatus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (291):1-2
1988 Murphy, Robert W. and C. Ben Crabtree. Genetic identification of a natural hybrid rattlesnake: Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus X C. viridis viridis. Herpetologica 44(1):119-123
1991 Wilkinson, Jeffery A., James L. Glenn, Richard C. Straight, and Jack W. Sites, Jr. Distribution and genetic variation in venom A and B populations of the Mojave rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus) in Arizona. Herpetologica 47(1):54-68
2016 Myers, Edward A., Michael J. Hickerson, and Frank T. Burbrink. Asynchronous diversification of snakes in the North American warm deserts. Journal of Biogeography 44(2):1-14
2017 Bezy, Robert L., Philip C. Rosen, Thomas R. Van Devender, and Erik F. Enderson. Southern distributional limits of the Sonoran Desert herpetofauna along the mainland coast of northwestern Mexico Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(1):138-167
2017 Myers, Edward A., Michael J. Hickerson, Frank T. Burbrink. Asynchronous diversification of snakes in the North American warm deserts. Journal of Biogeography 44(2):461-474
2018 Schield, Drew R., Richard H. Adams, Daren C. Card, Andrew B. Corbina, Tereza Jezkova, Nicole R. Hales, Jesse M. Meik, Blair W. Perry, Carol L. Spencer, Lydia L. Smith, Gustavo Campillo García, Nassima M. Bouzid, Jason L. Strickland, Christopher L. Parkinson, Miguel Borja, Gamaliel Castañeda-Gaytán, Robert W. Bryson Jr., Oscar A. Flores-Villela, Stephen P. Mackessy, and Todd A. Castoe. Cryptic genetic diversity, population structure, and gene flow in the Mojave rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 127(2018):669–681
2019 Myers, Edward A., Alexander T. Xue, Marcelo Gehara, Christian Cox, Alison R. Davis Rabosky, Julio Lemos‐Espinal, Juan E. Martínez‐Gómez, and Frank T. Burbrink. Environmental heterogeneity and not vicariant biogeographic barriers generate community‐wide population structure in desert‐adapted snakes. Molecular Ecology 28(20):4535-4548
2019 Watson, Jessica A., Carol L. Spencer, Drew R. Schield, Brett O. Butler, Lydia L. Smith, Oscar Flores-Villela, Jonathan A. Campbell, Stephen P. MacKessy, Todd A. Castoe, and Jesse M. Meik. Geographic variation in morphology in the Mohave Rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus Kennicott 1861) (Serpentes: Viperidae): Implications for species boundaries. Zootaxa 4683(1):129–143
2021 Provost, Kaiya L., Edward A. Myers, Brian Tilston Smith Community phylogeographic patterns reveal how a barrier filters and structures taxa in North American warm deserts. Journal of Biogeography 48(6):1-17
2024 Myers, Edward A., Rhett M. Rautsaw, Miguel Borja, Jason Jones, Christoph I. Grünwald, Matthew L. Holding, Felipe Grazziotin, and Christopher L. Parkinson. Phylogenomic discordance is driven by wide-spread introgression and incomplete lineage sorting during rapid species diversification within rattlesnakes (Viperidae: Crotalus and Sistrurus) Systematic Biology syae018:

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 27 April 2025 11:38 CT