Short-tailed snake

File:Short-Tailed Snake close up.jpg

The short-tailed snake's tail comprises less than ten percent of the snake's total length, hence the common name. Originally described and named by A. Erwin Brown in 1890Boulenger, G.A. (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I–XX. (Stilosoma extenuatum, p. 325). as Stilosoma extenuatum, its generic name was derived from the Greek stylos for "pillar" and soma for "body". This refers to the stiffness of the short-tailed snake's body,Schmidt, K.P., and D.D. Davis (1941). Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. (Stilosoma extenuatum, pp. 191–192, Figure 59 + Plate 21). which is caused by its wide and inflexible column of unusually short vertebrae.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} The specific name, extenuata, is Latin for "thin" or "slender".{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

The short-tailed snake is a small serpent averaging {{convert|36|–|51|cm|in|abbr=on}} in total length (tail included), with a record total length measurement of {{convert|65.4|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}},Conant, R. (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. + Plates 1–48. {{ISBN|0-395-19979-4}} (hardcover), {{ISBN|0-395-19977-8}} (paperback). (Stilosoma extenuatum, p. 213 + Plate 21 + Map 162). and is perhaps as thin as a pencil. It is gray above with 50 to 80 dark blotches and may or may not have a yellow stripe running down the spine. The underside is white with dark brown blotches. It bears a more-than-superficial resemblance to other kingsnakes, especially the mole kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata), but can be distinguished by its smaller size and much more slender build.Wright, A.H., and A.A. Wright (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, A Division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in two volumes) (Genus Stilosoma, p. 692; Stilosoma extenuatum, pp. 693–696, Map 52 + Figure 204 on p. 698). Also, Lampropeltis extenuatua has six upper labials, whereas other kingsnakes of the genus Lampropeltis have seven upper labials.Smith, H.M., and E.D. Brodie, Jr. (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. {{ISBN|0-307-47009-1}} (hardcover), {{ISBN|0-307-13666-3}} (paperback). (Stilosoma extenuatum, pp. 178–179).

File:Short-Tailed Snake Central Florida.jpg

The short-tailed snake is as poorly understood as it is seldom-seen, rare and geographically limited. It is a burrowing snake that rarely appears above ground and does so even more rarely during the day. Like other snakes of the tribe Lampropeltini, it vibrates its tail when startled by predators or people but can be distinguished from a rattlesnake by its slender build and lack of a rattle. An excitable snake, it makes a poor captive and is protected against harassment or captivity by Florida law. Despite this, much of what little we know about the short-tailed snake has been based on observations of captive specimens.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Captive specimens of Lampropeltis extenuata show a keen preference for black-crowned snakes of the genus Tantilla and will often eat them exclusively, rejecting other species of small snake or lizard. It is possible that black-crowned snakes, some of which are themselves small, burrowing snakes endemic to Florida, comprise the entire diet of wild short-tailed snakes.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

File:Short-tailed Snake.JPG

The short-tailed snake is found only in a handful of counties in central Florida.

The preferred natural habitat of the short-tailed snake is sandy-soiled pine or oak forest or shrubland, but it may be found in other habitats, provided it has access to prey and suitable soil for burrowing.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Lampropeltis extenuata is oviparous.

As a member of the tribe Lampropeltini, Lampropeltis extenuata is ultimately derived from Old World rat snakes that crossed the Bering Land Bridge into North America more than 20 million years ago.{{Cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2006.09.009 |title=How and when did Old World ratsnakes disperse into the New World? |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=43 |pages=173–189 |year=2007 |last1=Burbrink |first1=F.T. |author1-link=Frank T. Burbrink |last2=Lawson |first2=R. |author2-link=species:Robin Lawson |issue=1 |pmid=17113316}} More recently, L. extenuata is a relict of the Miocene "Florida Island", separated from the mainland by higher sea levels. It is closely related to the kingsnakes and still bears a resemblance to the mole kingsnake which is also found in Florida. One fossil species, Stilosoma vetustum, dates from the late Miocene, some 5–10 million years ago.{{Cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02440.x |title= Trait-dependent diversification and the impact of palaeontological data on evolutionary hypothesis testing in New World ratsnakes (tribe Lampropeltini)| journal =Journal of Evolutionary Biology |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=497–508 |year=2012 |last1=Pyron |first1=R.A. |author1-link=species:Robert Alexander Pyron |last2=Burbrink |first2=F.T. |pmid=22226034 |doi-access=free}} How far divergent L. extenuata is from its kingsnake ancestors is still a matter of debate. In 2009 Pyron and Burbrink resolved to include it in the kingsnake genus Lampropeltis based on multiple lines of molecular and morphological evidence obtained in theirs and earlier studies.{{Cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2009.02.008 |title=Neogene diversification and taxonomic stability in the snake tribe Lampropeltini (Serpentes: Colubridae) |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=524–529 |year=2009 |last1=Pyron |first1=R.A. |last2=Burbrink |first2=F.T. |pmid=19236930}}

{{Reflist}}

• Brown, A.E. (1890). "On a new genus of Colubridæ from Florida". Proceedings of the Acadademy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 42: 199–200. (Stilosoma, new genus; Stilosoma extenuata, new species).
• Carr, A.F., Jr. (1934). "Notes on the Habits of the Short-Tailed Snake, Stilosoma extenuatum Brown". Copeia 1934 (3): 138–139.

• [https://books.google.com/books?id=appSZ6HmJtMC&dq=stilosoma+edge&pg=PA191 Fossil snakes of North America: origin, evolution, distribution, paleoecology]

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Category:Lampropeltis

Category:Reptiles described in 1890

Category:Endemic reptiles of the United States