THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part-snakes)    Natricidae  

Lined Snake
Tropidoclonion lineatum (Hallowell, 1856)
TROH-pee-doh-KLOH-nee-on — lin-ee-AY-tum

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: 2024.09.24.17.09.40)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.28 MB

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Arkansas Colorado Illinois Iowa Kansas Minnesota Missouri Nebraska New Mexico Oklahoma South Dakota Texas Wisconsin

Taxonomic Etymology:
A small North American snake with keeled scales and longitudinal stripes.
Tropidoclonion — From Greek tropis (τροπίς), “keel,” and klonion, a diminutive of klonos, meaning “twig” or “branch.” Together, it implies “little keeled (thing),” referring to the small size and keeled dorsal scales of the snake.
lineatum — From Latin lineatus, “lined” or “striped.” Refers to the thin, light-colored longitudinal stripes along the snake’s back and sides.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Lined Snake (Tropidoclonium lineatum: 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); Streaked Snake (Tropidoclonium lineatum: Hay, Oliver P. 1892. Batrachians and Reptiles of the State of Indiana. Pages 409-624 in 17th Annual Report of the Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources, William B. Burford, Printer and Binder, Indianapolis, Indiana. pp.); Lined Snake (Tropidoclonion lineatum: 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.); Lined Snake (Tropidoclonion lineatum: 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:
1856 Hallowell, Edward. Notice of a collection of reptiles from Kansas and Nebraska presented to the Academy of Natural Sciences, by Doctor Hammond, U. S. A. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 8:238-253
1932 Dunn, Emmett R. The status of Tropidoclonion lineatum. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 45:195-198
1963 Smith, Philip W. and Hobart M. Smith. The systematic status of the Lined Snake of Iowa. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 76:297-304
1994 Smith, Hobart M. and David Chiszar. Variation in the Lined Snake (Tropidoclonion lineatum) in northern Texas. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society 30(1):6-14
2001 Alfaro, Michael E. and Stevan J. Arnold. Molecular systematics and evolution of Regina and the Thamnophiine snakes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 21(3):408-423
2002 de Queiroz, Alan, Robin Lawson, and Julio A. Lemos-Espinal. Phylogenetic relationships of North American garter snakes (Thamnophis) based on four mitochondrial genes: How much DNA sequence is enough?. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 22(2):315-329

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 05 December 2025 15:52 CT