Red Diamond Rattlesnake

About the Red Diamond Rattlesnake

Common names: red diamond rattlesnake, red rattlesnake, red diamond snake, more Crotalus ruber is a venomous pit viper species found in southwestern California in the United States and Baja California in Mexico. Three subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.

Common names include: red diamond rattlesnake, red rattlesnake, red diamond snake, red diamond-backed rattlesnake, red rattler, and western diamond rattlesnake. The form found on Cedros Island, previously described as C. exsul, was referred to as the Cedros Island diamond rattlesnake, or Cedros Island rattlesnake.

Not enough genetic and morphological diversity exists between C. exsul from Cedros Island and C. ruber from the mainland to warrant the recognition of both species. Since C. exsul Garman (1884) has priority over C. ruber Cope (1892), they suggested the island population be referred to as C. e. exsul and those from the mainland as C. e. ruber. In response, Smith et al. (1998) petitioned the ICZN to validate ruber over exsul in the interest of nomenclatural stability. In 2000, the ICZN published Opinion 1960 in which they ruled C. ruber should... Wikipedia →