THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY


Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Natricidae  

Mexican Gartersnake
Thamnophis eques (Reuss, 1834)
tham-NO-fiss — EE-kwes

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.10.13.42.10)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.56 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Arizona Nevada New Mexico

First instance(s) of published English names:
Emory's Garter Snake (Eutaenia macrostemma megalops: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Spotted-necked Garter Snake (Eutaenia eques: Brown, Arthur, E. 1902. Report of the Board of Directors. Pages 5-22 in Thirtieth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia. Allen, Lane, and Scott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. pp.); Brown Garter Snake (Thamnophis eques: Strecker, John K., Jr. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Mexican Garter Snake (Thamnophis megalops: Van Denburgh, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); Puget Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides ordinoides: Van Denburgh, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); Brown Garter Snake (Thamnophis eques: Schmidt, Karl Peterson and D. D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. C.P. Putnam and Sons, New York. 365pp.); Arizona Garter Snake (Thamnophis macrostemma megalops: Schmidt, Karl Peterson and D. D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. C.P. Putnam and Sons, New York. 365pp.); Mexican Garter Snake (Thamnophis eques: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Arizona Garter Snake (Thamnophis eques megalops: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1834 Reuss, Adolph. Zoologische Miscellen. Reptilien, Ophidier. [Zoological Miscellaneous. Reptiles, ophidians.] Museum Senckenbergianum. Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der beschreibenden Naturgeschichte.. [Senckenbergianum Museum. Treatises from the field of descriptive natural history.] 1(2):129-162
1903 Brown, Arthur Edwin. The variations of Eutaenia in the Pacific subregion. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 55:286-297
1908 Ruthven, Alexander G. Variations and genetic relationships of the garter-snakes. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (61):1-201
1994 De Queiroz, Alan and Robin Lawson. Phylogenetic relationships of the garter snakes based on DNA sequence and allozyme variation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 53:209-229
2002 de Queiroz, Alan, Robin Lawson, and Julio A. Lemos-Espinal. Phylogenetic relationships of North American garter snakes (Thamnophis) based on four mitochondrial genes: How much DNA sequence is enough?. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 22(2):315-329

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Thursday 12 June 2025 02:34 CT