Baja California Coachwhip
Masticophis fuliginosus
(Cope, 1895)
MAS-tih-KOH-fiss — foo-LIH-jih-NOH-sus
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
O’Connell and Smith (2018, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 127: 356–366) support recognizing M. fuliginosus as a species.
(Boundy, Jeff, Frank T. Burbrink, and Sara Ruane. 2025. Squamata (excluding lizards) – Snakes. Pages 38-54 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)
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: - 0.19 MB
Province/State Distribution:
United States: California
Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its apprearance.
Masticophis — Greek mastix + ophis.
fuliginosus — Latin fuliginosus = “sooty” or “smoky” — describing its dark, dusky coloration.
First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
The Reptile Database
GenBank
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database
Selected References:
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1928
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Ortenburger, Arthur I. The whip snakes and racers: Genera Masticophis and Coluber. Memiors of the University of Michigan Museum (1):1-247
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1973
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Wilson, Larry D. Masticophis. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (144):1-2
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2004
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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
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2008
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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
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2017
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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
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2018
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O'Connell, Kyle A. and Eric N. Smith. The effect of missing data on coalescent species delimitation and a taxonomic revision of whipsnakes (Colubridae: Masticophis). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 127(2018):356-366
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