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Reptilia    Squamata (part-snakes)    Colubridae  
Coast Mountain Kingsnake
Lampropeltis multifasciata (Bocourt, 1886 in Duméril, Mocquard, and Bocourt, 1870-1909)
lam-proh-PEL-tis — mul-tee-fash-ee-AH-tah
Taxon Links
iNaturalist
The Reptile Database
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
NatureServe
GenBank
USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record), (,   Citizen Science), (  Fossil)
Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 1,220 Total; 463 Museum; 757 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,832 records, and geographic and taxonomic errors exist. Logged-in, registered users may report a potential issue directly from the marker popup.
Shaded range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. (Version: 2024.02.17.23.28.02)
Download map data (GeoJSON):
Polygon Range File Museum Literature Fossil Personal Observation Citizen Science

Province/State Distribution:

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its many-banded appearance.
Lampropeltis — From Greek: lampros (λαμπρός) = “bright,” “shining”; pelte (πέλτη) = “small shield”; “Shiny shield” — a reference to the smooth, glossy scales that reflect light, giving these snakes a polished or shiny appearance. multifasciata — Latin multi- = “many” + fasciatus = “banded” — “many-banded,” referring to its pattern.

First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.


Selected References:
1886 Bocourt, Marie F. Etudes sur les reptiles. [Studies on reptiles.]. Pages 593–656 + 657–660 in Duméril, Mocquard, and Bocourt, 1870-1909. Recherches Zoologiques pour servir a l'Histoire de Ia Faune de l'Amérique Centrale et du Mexique. Mission Scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amér. Livraison 10. [ Zoological Research to be used in the History of the Fauna of Central America and Mexico. Scientific Mission to Mexico and America. Delivery 10]. Imprimerie Impériale [Imperial Printing Office], Paris, France. pp.
1973 Blaney, Richard M. Lampropeltis. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (150):1-2
1975 Zweifel, Richard G. Lampropeltis zonata.. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (174):1-4
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Viewpoint: A new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibins and reptiles. Herpetological Review 22(2):42-43
2013 Myers, E. A., Javier A. Rodríguez-Robles, Dale Denardo, R. E. Staub, A. Stropoli, Sara Ruane, and Frank T. Burbrink. Multilocus phylogeographic assessment of the California Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis zonata) suggests alternative patterns of diversification for the California Floristic Province. Molecular Ecology 22(21):5418-5429
2014 Crother, Brian I. The bold taxonomic hypotheses of Collins (1991): 23 years later. Herpetological Review 45(2):268-272
2016 Flores-Villela, Oscar, Roger Bour, and Kraig Adler. Publication history of the Mission scientifique au Mexique et dans l’Amérique Centrale, reptiles and amphibians. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87(2016):1162–1167

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