THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Colubridae  

Striped Racer
Masticophis lateralis (Hallowell, 1853)

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

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: - 2.64 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: California

First instance(s) of published English names:
Striped-side Whip Snake (Drymobius lateralis: Cooper, James G. 1869. The fauna of California and its geographical distribution. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 4():61-81); Hallowell's Coach-whip Snake (Bascanium taeniatum laterale: 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); Californian Racer (Bascanion laterale: 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); Side-striped Whip Snake (Zamenis lateralis: 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.); California Racer (Coluber lateralis: 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.); California Striped Racer (Coluber lateralis: 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.); California Striped Whipsnake (Coluber lateralis: 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.); Black Whipsnake (Coluber piceus: 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.); California Striped Whip Snake (Masticophis lateralis: 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:
1853 Hallowell, Edward. On some new reptiles from California. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 6:236-238
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
1983 Jennings, Mark R. Masticophis lateralis. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (343):1-2
1990 Grismer, L. Lee. Relationships, taxonomy, and biogeography of the Masticophis lateralis complex in Baja California, Mexico. Herpetologica 46(1):66-77
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
2016 Richmond, Jonathan Q., Dustin A. Wood, Karen E. Swaim, Robert N. Fisher and Amy G. Vandergast. Historical habitat barriers prevent ring-like genetic continuity throughout the distribution of threatened Alameda Striped Racers (Coluber lateralis euryxanthus). Herpetologica 72(3):202-213
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 12:23 CT