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Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Natricidae  

Rough Earthsnake
Virginia striatula (Linnaeus, 1766)

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Using genome-scale data, Nuñez et al. (2023, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 186: 1-12) demonstrated that V. valeriae and Haldea striatula were sister species and recommended returning striatula to the genus Virginia.
Page 54: The "U" in "Using" to start the first sentence should not be italicized. — (4/10/2025)

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.08.22.52.49)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.5 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Smooth-headed Snake (Coluber striatulus: Forster, John R. 1771. A systematic catalogue of all the known plants of English North-America or, a flora Americae Septentrionalis. Pages in From Forster's translation of Bossu, Travels through that part of North America formerly called Louisiana, Vol. 1. T. Davies, London, England. pp.); Striated Snake (Coluber striatulus: Pennant, Thomas. 1785. Artic Zoology. Henry Hughs, London. pp.); Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: 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.); Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: Jordan, David S. 1878. 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. Second Edition, Revised, and Enlarged. Jansen, McClurg & Company, Chicago. pp.); Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: 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); Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: 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.); Little Striped Snake (Haldea striatula: Rhoads, Samuel N. 1895. Contributions to the zoology of Tennessee. No. 1, Reptiles and amphibians. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 47():376-407); Little Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Ground Snake (Haldea striatula: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Garman's Snake (Amphiardis inornatus: Strecker, John K., Jr. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Southern Ground Snake (Haldea striatula: 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.); Small Brown Viper (Haldea striatula: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Southern Ground Snake (Haldea striatula: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Small-eyed Brown Snake (Haldea striatula: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Striated Viper (Haldea striatula: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Southern Ground Snake (Haldea striatula: 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:
1766 Linné, Carl von (=Linneaus). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. [The system of nature through the three kingdoms of nature, according to classes, orders, genera, species with characters, differences, synonyms, places. Volume I.] Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm, Holmiae, Editio duodecima, reformata (12th Edition). 1-532pp.
1923 Blanchard, Frank N. The snakes of the genus Virginia. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters (3):343-365
1940 Breukelman, John. The snake Haldea striatula in Kansas. Herpetologica 2(2):56
1964 Clark, Donald R., Jr. The structures of the hemipenis as systematic characters in the genus Virginia Baird and Girard. Herpetologica 20(1):33-37
1991 Rossman, Douglas A. and Van Wallach. Virginia. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (529):1-4
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and reptiles in the upper Mississippi river valley: Systematic and distributional problems. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 66(4):149-152
1994 Powell, Robert, Joseph T. Collins, and Lee D. Fish. Virginia striatula. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (599):1-6
2013 McVay, John David and Bryan Carstens. Testing monophyly without well-supported gene trees: Evidence from multi-locus nuclear data conficts with existing taxonomy in the snake tribe Thamnophiini. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 68:425-431

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Saturday 26 April 2025 23:36 CT