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Reptilia    Squamata (part-snakes)    Colubridae  
Big Bend Patch-nosed Snake
Salvadora deserticola Schmidt, 1940
sal-VOH-doh-rah — deh-ZUR-tih-KOH-lah
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SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 See comment under Salvadora. (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.)

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Occurrences:; 675 Total; 237 Museum; 438 Other

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Province/State Distribution:

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its desert habitat.
Salvadora — Named in honor of José Salvado, a Spanish naturalist—or possibly derived from salvator, Latin for “savior.” The original author (Baird & Girard, 1853) did not specify the origin clearly, but the name was likely a personal tribute.
deserticola — From Latin desertum (“desert”) and -cola (“dweller”), meaning “desert-dweller.” Refers to the species’ arid-range distribution, especially in the Big Bend region of Texas.

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


Selected References:
1940 Schmidt, Karl P. Notes on Texan snakes of the genus Salvadora. Field Museum of Natural History. Zoological Series 24(12):143-150
2021 Hernandez-Jimenez, Carlos A., Oscar Flores-Villela, Aranzazu Aguilar-Bremauntz, and Jonathan A. Campbell. Phylogenetic relationships based on morphological data and taxonomy of the genus Salvadora Baird & Girard, 1853 (Reptilia, Colubridae). European Journal of Taxonomy 764:85–118

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