Prairie Rattlesnake

About the Prairie Rattlesnake

The prairie rattlesnake or Great Plains rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) is a venomous pit viper species native to the western United States, southwestern Canada, and northern Mexico. Currently, two subspecies are recognized, including the prairie rattlesnake (C. v. viridis), the nominate subspecies, and the Hopi rattlesnake (C. v. nuntius).

The taxonomic history of this species is convoluted. Previously, seven other C. viridis subspecies were also recognized, including C. v. abyssus, C. v. caliginis, C. v. cerberus, C. v. concolor, C. v. helleri, C. v. lutosus, and C. v. oreganus In 2001, though, Ashton and de Queiroz described their analysis of the variation of mitochondrial DNA across the range of this species. Their results agreed broadly with those obtained by Pook et al. (2000). Two main clades were identified, east and west of the Rocky Mountains, which they argued were actually two different species: C. viridis, including the conventional subspecies C. v. viridis and C. v. nuntius, and C. oreganus, including all the other traditional subspecies of C. viridis. The authors retained the names of the traditional subspecies, but emphasized the need for more work to... Wikipedia →