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Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Crotalidae  

Western Massasauga
Sistrurus tergeminus (Say, in James, 1822)

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Date of publication is corrected to 1822 based on Woodman (2010, Archives of Natural History 37: 28–38).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.06.27.14.51.03)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.06 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Arizona Colorado Iowa Kansas Missouri Nebraska New Mexico Oklahoma Texas

First instance(s) of published English names:
Chained Rattlesnake (Crotalinus catenatus: Rafinesque, Constantine S. 1818. Further account of discoveries in natural history, in the western states. The American Monthly Magazine and Critical Review 4():39-42); Prairie Rattlesnake (Caudisona tergemina: Jordan, David Starr. 1876. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Jansen, McClurg, and Company, Chicago, Illinois.. 342pp.); Massasauga (Caudisona tergemina: Jordan, David Starr. 1876. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Jansen, McClurg, and Company, Chicago, Illinois.. 342pp.); Sonora Ground Rattlesnake (Caudisona edwardsi: 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); Black Rattlesnake (Caudisona tergemina: 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); Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus: Garman, Samuel. 1887. Reptiles and batrachians from Texas and Mexico. Bulletin of the Essex Institute 19():119-138); Guilf-coast Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus consors: Stejneger, Leonhard H. 1895. The poisonous snakes of North America. Annual Report of the United States National Museum 1893(2):337-487); Edwards' Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii: Stejneger, Leonhard H. 1895. The poisonous snakes of North America. Annual Report of the United States National Museum 1893(2):337-487); Prairie Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus: Branson, Edwin B. 1904. Snakes of Kansas. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 2(13):353-430); Edward's Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii: 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.); Pigmy Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus: Taylor, Edward H. 1929. A revised checklist of the snakes of Kansas. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 19(5):53-62); Western Massasagua (Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus: 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.); Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus consors: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Large Ground Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus consors: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Sonora Ground Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus consors: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Gulf Coast Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus consors: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Texas Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus consors: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Edward's Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Western Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Prairie Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Three Spotted Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Western Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Large Ground Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Say's False Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1822 James, Edwin. Account of an expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819 and ‘20, by order of the Hon. J. C. Calhoun, Sec’y of War: under the command of Major Stephen H. Long. From the notes of Major Long, Mr. T. Say, and other gentlemen of the exploring party. Compiled by Edwin James, botanist and geologist for the expedition. In two vols. – with an atlas. [Volume 1]. Henry Charles Carey and Isaac Lea, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 503pp.
1823 James, Edwin. Account of an expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819, 1820. By order of the Hon. J. C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, under the command of Maj. S. H. Long, of the United States Top. Engineers. Compiled from the notes of Major Long, Mr. T. Say, and other gentlemen of the party by Edwin James, botanist and geologist to the expedition. In three volumes. [Volume 2]. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, London, England. 356pp.
1892 Garman, Samuel. Sistrurus and Crotalophorus. Science 19(485):290
1940 Gloyd, Howard K. The rattlesnakes, genera Sistrurus and Crotalus. Chicago Academy of Sciences Special Publication 4(1):1-266
1948 Evans, P. D. and Howard K. Gloyd. The subspecies of the Massasauga, Sistrurus catenatus, in Missouri. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 8:225-232
1955 Gloyd, Howard K. A review of the Massasaugas, Sistrurus catenatus, of the southwestern United States (Serpentes: Crotalidae). Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 10(6):83-98
1978 Reinert, Howard K. The ecology and morphological variation of the Massasauga Rattlesnake, Sistrurus catenatus. Thesis. Pennsylvania State University, Clarion, Pennsylvania. 173pp.
1983 Minton, Sherman A., Jr.. Sistrurus catenatus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (332):1-2
1986 Seigel, Richard A. Ecology and conservation of an endangered rattlesnake, Sistrurus catenatus, in Missouri, USA. Biological Conservation 35:333-346
1996 Dundee, Harold A. Some reallocations of type localities of reptiles and amphibians described from the Major Stephen H. Long Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, with comments on some of the statements made in the account written by Edwin James.  Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany 30:75–89
1997 Hobert, Justin P. The Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) in Colorado. Thesis. University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. 155pp.
2004 Hobert, Justin P., C. E. Montgomery, and S. P. Mackessy. Natural history of the massasauga, Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii, in southeastern Colorado. Southwestern Naturalist 49(3):321-326
2005 Mackessy, Stephen P. Desert Massasauga Rattlenake (Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii): A technical conservation assessment. United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Species Conservation Project. 56pp.
2007 Holycross, Andrew T. and Michael E. Douglas. Geographic isolation, genetic divergence, and ecological non-exchangeability define ESUs in a threatened sky-island rattlesnake. Biological Conservation 134(2007):142-154
2008 Holycross, Andrew T., T. G. Anton, Michael E. Douglas, and Darrel R. Frost. The type localities of Sistrurus catenatus and Crotalus viridis (Serpentes: Viperidae), with the unraveling of a most unfortunate tangle of names. Copeia 2008:421-424
2009 Anderson, Corey Devin, H. Lisle Gibbs, Michael E. Douglas, and Andrew T. Holycross. Conservation genetics of the Desert Massasauga Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii). Copeia 2009(4):740-747
2010 Woodman, Neal. History and dating of the publication of the Philadelphia (1822) and London (1823) editions of Edwin James' Account of an expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains. Archives of Natural History 37(1):28-38
2011 Gibbs, H. Lisle, Michael Murphy, and James E. Chiucchi. Genetic identity of endangered Massasauga rattlesnakes (Sistrurus sp.) in Missouri. Conservation Genetics 12(2):433-439
2011 Kubatko, Laura S., H. Lisle Gibbs, and Erik W. Bloomquist. Inferring species-level phylogenies and taxonomic distinctiveness using multilocus data in Sistrurus rattlesnakes. Systematic Biology 60(4):393-409
2011 Crother, Brian I., Jay M. Savage, and Andrew T. Holycross. Crotalinus catenatus Rafinesque, 1818 (currently Sistrurus catenatus) and Crotalus tergeminus Say in James, 1822 (currently Sistrurus tergeminus; Reptilia, Serpentes): Proposed conservation of usage by designation of neotypes for both species. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 68(4):271-274
2011 Wastell, Andrew R. and Stephen P. Mackessy. Spatial ecology and factors influencing movement patterns of Desert Massasauga Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii) in southeastern Colorado. Copeia 2011(1):29–37
2012 Crother, Brian I., Jay M. Savage, and Andrew T. Holycross. Comment on the proposed conservation of Crotalinus catenatus Rafinesque, 1818 (currently Sistrurus catenatus) and Crotalus tergeminus (currently Sistrurus tergeminus; Reptilia, Serpentes) by designation of neotypes for both species. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 69(1):1-2
2013 ICZN, Opinion 2328. OPINION 2328 (Case 3571) Crotalinus catenatus Rafinesque, 1818 (currently Sistrurus catenatus) and Crotalus tergeminus Say in James, 1822 (currently Sistrurus tergeminus; Reptilia, Serpentes): Usage conserved by designation of neotypes for both species. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 70(4):282-283
2014 Panella, J., and B.D. Johnson. Western Massasauga (Sistrurus tergeminus). A Species Conservation Assessment for the Nebraska Natural Legacy Project. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, Nebraska. 18pp.
2015 Ryberg, Wade A., Johanna A. Harvey, Anna Blick, Toby J. Hibbitts, and Gary Voelker. Genetic structure is inconsistent with subspecies designations in the Western Massasauga Sistrurus tergeminus. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 6(2):1-10
2015 McCluskey, Eric M. and David J. Bender. Genetic structure of Western Massasauga rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus). Journal of Herpetology 49(3):343-348
2016 Wastell, Andrew R. and Stephen P. Mackessy. Desert Massasauga Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii) in southeastern Colorado: Life history, reproduction, and communal hibernation. Journal of Herpetology 50(4):594–603
2021 Balchan, Neil R. Resistance to rattlesnake venoms in an eastern Colorado rodent community. Thesis. University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. 143pp.
2022 Walkup, D. K., A. M. Lawing, Toby B. Hibbitts, and W. A. Ryberg. Biogeographic consequences of shifting climate for the Western Massasauga (Sistrurus tergeminus). Ecology and Evolution 2022:e8599
2024 Myers, Edward A., Rhett M. Rautsaw, Miguel Borja, Jason Jones, Christoph I. Grünwald, Matthew L. Holding, Felipe Grazziotin, and Christopher L. Parkinson. Phylogenomic discordance is driven by wide-spread introgression and incomplete lineage sorting during rapid species diversification within rattlesnakes (Viperidae: Crotalus and Sistrurus) Systematic Biology syae018:

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Saturday 26 April 2025 22:30 CT