 Range in California: Red
Green: Sonoran Lyresnake
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Adult, San Diego County |
Adult, San Diego County |
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Juvenile, San Diego County. © Gary Nafis. Specimen courtesy of Tim Burkhardt |
Adult, San Diego County |
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Adult, Santa Barbara County
© Patrick Briggs |
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Adult, San Diego County
© Michael Clarkson |
Adult, San Diego County © Bruce Edley |
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Habitat, San Diego County |
Habitat, coastal San Diego County |
Habitat, Lava Flow, San Bernardino County |
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| Habitat, Riverside County |
Habitat, San Diego County
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Habitat, San Diego County
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Description |
Mildly Venomous |
| One of the larger rear-fanged snakes, but considered harmless to humans, but handle with caution, as some people have had unpleasant reactions to this snake's bite. |
| Size |
| Trimorphodon biscutatus have been recorded from 18 - 47 3/4 inches in length (46 - 121 cm). Most snakes encountered are 24 - 36 inches long (61 - 91 cm). |
| Appearance |
A slender snake with a broad head well-differentiated from the slim neck. Coloring closely matches a snake's rocky habitat, from gray to light brown. There are usually about 35 dorsal blotches with light edges and a pale crossbar in the center, and smaller irregular blotches on the lower sides. A lyre-shaped marking is present on top of the head. The pupils are vertical, like those of a cat. The underside is off-white or yellowish with dark spots. The anal plate is usually undivided.
According to Stebbins there is a dark form of this snake with a light brown middorsal stripe found at the Pisgah lava flow. |
| Behavior |
| Nocturnal, active in very dry conditions as well as during rains. Terrestrial, and good climbers. This snake often searches rock crevices for prey. It can be found during the day inside crevices in large rock outcrops, as well as crossing desert roads at night. |
| Diet |
| Primarily lizards, but also known to eat small mammals, nestling birds, and snakes. |
| Reproduction |
| Not well known. Lyre snakes apparently originated in the tropics, where breeding is year round, and the northern races may have retained this capability. |
| Range |
| In California, this snake occurs from around Santa Barbara County northeast into Inyo County, and south along the coast into Baja California, in two strips through the peninsular ranges, and along the Colorado River, splitting around the Imperial Valley. It is also absent from a large area of the Mojave Desert except for isolated localities including the Pisgah lava flow area. This may be due to the secretive nature of this snake. It may be more widespread in this area. |
| Habitat |
| Associated primarily with rocky locations in desert scrub and grassland, chaparral, oak woodland, coniferous forest, but found in rockless areas, also. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
Some researchers do not recognize any subspecies of Trimorphodon biscutatus.
The former subspecies T. b. vandenburghi was synonymized with T. b. lyrophanes in 1994 (Grismer et al. (1994 Bull. So,. California Acad. Sci. 93: 45-80).
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| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Colubridae |
Colubrids |
| Genus |
Trimorphodon |
Lyresnakes |
| Species |
biscutatus |
Lyresnake |
Subspecies
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lyrophanes |
Baja California Lyresnake |
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Original Description |
Trimorphodon biscutatus - (Dumeril, Bibron and Dumeril, 1854) - Erpet. Gen., Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 1153
Trimorphodon biscutatus lyrophanes - Cope, 1860
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Trimorphodon - Greek - tri - three, and morph - shape, and odon- teeth - refers to the 3 tooth shapes in the upper jaw, recurved anterior teeth; the shorter middle teeth and elongate, grooved fangs at the rear.
biscutatus - Latin - bis - two, and scutatus- plated - refers to the doubled loreal plate
lyrophanes - Greek - lyro - lyre, and phaneros - visible - probably refers to they lyre-like pattern on the head
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Trimorphodon biscutatus - Western Lyre Snake (no subspecies recognized)
Formerly called California Lyre Snake - T. b. vandenburghii
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Related or Similar California Snakes |
T. b. lambda - Sonoran Lyresnake
Great Basin Gopher Snake
San Diego Gopher Snake
Desert Glossy Snake
California Glossy Snake
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Bartlett, R.D. , & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000.
Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press.
Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997.
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The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.
This snake is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
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| USDA Forest Service |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
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World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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Range in California: Red
