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| plains garter snake | |
|---|---|
| Name | Plains garter snake |
| Status | LC |
| Status system | IUCN3.1 |
| Genus | Thamnophis |
| Species | radix |
| Authority | (Baird & Girard, 1853) |
plains garter snake The plains garter snake is a widespread North American colubrid found across the Great Plains and adjacent regions. It is a diurnal, semi-aquatic species noted for its adaptability to grassland, prairie, and riparian environments, and it plays a role in local food webs and cultural natural-history studies.
The species is placed in the genus Thamnophis, within the family Colubridae, and was described by Spencer Fullerton Baird and Charles Frédéric Girard in 1853. Historical treatments have compared it with congeners such as Thamnophis sirtalis and Thamnophis elegans in revisions by herpetologists associated with institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and the American Museum of Natural History. Nomenclatural stability has been influenced by molecular phylogenetics from research groups at universities such as University of Kansas and University of Michigan, and by catalogues maintained by the Catalogue of Life and regional faunal lists compiled by agencies including the United States Geological Survey.
Adults typically measure 40–75 cm in total length, with dorsal coloration usually featuring a mid-dorsal stripe and lateral stripes. Field guides produced by the National Audubon Society and the Royal Ontario Museum describe scalation with keeled scales, a single anal plate, and patterning that helps distinguish it from species treated in keys from the Field Museum of Natural History and the Canadian Museum of Nature. Sexual dimorphism is subtle; males often show longer tails and larger cloacal glands as noted in studies published by herpetological societies such as the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.
The range extends across the central United States from the Canadian Prairies south into parts of New Mexico and Texas, and eastward to the edge of the Mississippi River basin. Occurrence records are catalogued by state agencies like the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and provincial authorities such as the Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship. Preferred habitats include riparian corridors, prairie potholes, and marsh edges similar to ecosystems described in conservation plans by the Nature Conservancy and landscape studies by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Plains garter snakes are primarily diurnal and often active during warm months, a pattern recorded in long-term monitoring projects at sites overseen by the National Park Service and academic stations like the Konza Prairie Biological Station. They thermoregulate by using sunlit grass, fence posts, and shallow water, behaviors compared in ecological syntheses from the Ecological Society of America and research published in journals affiliated with the American Institute of Biological Sciences. Seasonal movements include localized dispersal and use of communal hibernacula, a phenomenon documented in studies from the University of Nebraska and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Their diet consists mainly of earthworms, amphibians, and small fishes; dietary analyses have been reported in journals associated with the Herpetologists' League and in theses from institutions such as Kansas State University. Predators include raptors recorded by ornithological groups like the American Ornithological Society, mammalian mesopredators catalogued by the Mammal Society of North America, and larger snakes noted in regional checklists from the Missouri Department of Conservation. Foraging strategies and venom tolerance to amphibian toxins appear in comparative studies by researchers at Cornell University and University of California, Berkeley.
Plains garter snakes are viviparous, giving birth to live young after internal gestation; reproductive timing and litter sizes are described in reproductive ecology studies from the University of Colorado and reports by the Illinois Natural History Survey. Mating aggregations and pheromonal communication have been topics in research linked to laboratories at the University of Texas and behavioral ecology groups at the University of Arizona. Juvenile development, survivorship, and recruitment are monitored in population studies overseen by entities such as the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and published in regional herpetofaunal surveys.
While currently assessed as Least Concern by conservation assessments used by organizations like the International Union for Conservation of Nature and national inventories from the Canadian Wildlife Service, local declines have been associated with habitat conversion documented by reports from the United States Department of Agriculture, wetland loss chronicled by the Environmental Protection Agency, and road mortality recorded in transportation ecology studies at the Federal Highway Administration. Conservation measures include habitat protection initiatives by conservation NGOs like The Nature Conservancy and land-management recommendations in state wildlife action plans from agencies such as the Department of Natural Resources (Michigan).
Category:Thamnophis Category:Fauna of the Great Plains