THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Colubridae  

Sonoran Whipsnake
Masticophis bilineatus Jan, 1867

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 The date of publication has been corrected. The specific name M. bilineatum was introduced by Jan (1863, Elenco sistematico degli ofidi: vii + 143) as a nomen nudum, and was formally published by Jan (in Jan and Sordelli, 1867, Iconographie generale des ophidiens, volume 2, livraison 22, plate 6).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.09.21.53.10)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.35 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Arizona New Mexico

First instance(s) of published English names:
Sonoran Racer (Coluber semilineatus: 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.); Sonoran Whipsnake (Coluber semilineatus: 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.); Sonora Whip Snake (Masticophis bilineatus: 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:
1867 Jan, Giorgio and F. Sordelli. Iconographie Gnrale des Ophidiens.  Vol. 2., Livrais 21, Milan, Italy and Paris, France. pp.
1928 Ortenburger, Arthur I. The whip snakes and racers: Genera Masticophis and Coluber. Memiors of the University of Michigan Museum (1):1-247
1973 Wilson, Larry D. Masticophis. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (144):1-2
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Viewpoint: A new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibins and reptiles Herpetological Review 22(2):42-43
1996 Camper, Jeffrey D. Masticophis bilineatus Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (637):1-4
2004 Nagy, Z. T. , R. Lawson, U. Joger and M. Wink. Molecular systematics of racers, whipsnakes and relatives (Reptilia: Colubridae) using mitochondrial and nuclear markers Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 42:223-233
2008 Collins, Joseph T. and Travis W. Taggart. A proposal to retain Masticophis as the generic name for the Coachwhip and Whipsnakes Journal of Kansas Herpetology (27):12
2014 Crother, Brian I. The bold taxonomic hypotheses of Collins (1991): 23 years later. Herpetological Review 45(2):268-272
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 O'Connell, Kyle A., Jeffrey W. Streicher, Eric N. Smith, and Matthew K. Fujita. Geographical features are the predominant driver of molecular diversification in widely distributed North American whipsnakes. Molecular Ecology 26(20):5729–5751

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 27 April 2025 11:52 CT