Growth rates and mortality of the Louisiana pine snake (Pituophis ruthveni)

John G. Himes; Laurence M. Hardy; Craig Rudolph; Shirley J. Burgdorf

doi:10.2307/1565941

Treesearch

Growth rates and mortality of the Louisiana pine snake (Pituophis ruthveni)

Informally Refereed

Authors:

John G. Himes, Laurence M. Hardy, Craig Rudolph, Shirley J. Burgdorf

Year:

2002

Type:

Scientific Journal

Station:

Southern Research Station

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2307/1565941

Source:

Journal of Herpetology. 36(4): 683-687

Download (PDF 206 KB)

Download (PDF 206 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/20316.pdf

Abstract

The genus Pituophis (Serpentes: Colubridae) contains three species of snakes in the United States (Collins, 1997): Pituophis catenifer, Pituophis melanoleucus, and Pituophis ruthveni. The Louisiana pine snake, P. ruthveni, was elevated to specific status by Reichling (1995) and is endemic to western Louisiana and eastern Texas (Conant and Collins, 1991; Reichling, 1995; Thomas et al., 1976). Rodríguez-Robles and De Jesús-Escobar (2000) agreed with the recognition of specific status for P. ruthveni since its original description (Stull, 1929). The paucity of data on P. ruthveni is because of the snake's limited distribution (Reichling, 1995; Thomas et al., 1976), low population density (Jennings and Fritts, 1983; Reichling, 1989), and scretive nature (Reichling, 1988).

Citation

Himes, John G.; Hardy, Laurence M.; Rudolph, D. Craig; Burgdorf, Shirley J. 2002. Growth rates and mortality of the Louisiana pine snake (Pituophis ruthveni). Journal of Herpetology. 36(4): 683-687.