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Identify the Mexican snake! Photograph by Dave Hone!
Tetrapod Zoology
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With six years of phd work on theropod dinosaurs behind him, Darren Naish mostly spends long hours in the library, hunched over his laptop. But he gets out sometimes, and picks up litter and pursues exotic lizards across the British countryside, aiming all the while to publish his technical work on obscure Cretaceous dinosaurs. He also messes around with pterosaurs, swimming giraffes, British big cats and stuff like that. He has given up on the stupid idea of being a dedicated academic and ekes out a living as a technical consultant, editor and author. He can be contacted intermittently at eotyrannus (at) gmail dot com. For more biographical info go here.
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« Publishing with a hidden agenda: why birds simply cannot be dinosaurs | Main | "What was that cute little Mexican snake?", and other musings... »
Una serpiente pequeña
Category: herpetology • picture of the day
Posted on: July 19, 2009 6:56 AM, by Darren Naish
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Comments
Night snake (Hypsiglena)?
That or a cat-eyed (Leptodeira) of some kind.
Posted by: Sven DiMilo | July 19, 2009 8:36 AM
I don't know what species it is, but it certainly is cute! I'm going to assume its name is George, and my quiz is to see if anyone can recall my reference.
Posted by: Joel | July 19, 2009 9:20 AM
I'm going to go with either a cat-eyed or a cloudy snail eater/sucker (Sibon nebulata)
Posted by: Saxxon Thompson | July 19, 2009 9:29 AM
Quizás sea una especia del ojo de gato (Leptodeira).
Posted by: Diego | July 19, 2009 9:51 AM
"I don't know what species it is, but it certainly is cute! I'm going to assume its name is George, and my quiz is to see if anyone can recall my reference."
Cute as a button!
Reference? Umm, something from a cartoon? Bugs Bunny?
Posted by: JuliaM | July 19, 2009 10:01 AM
A Milk snake (Lampropetis triangulum) family Colubridae, or 0ne of 24 subspecies
Posted by: Bob Michaels | July 19, 2009 10:03 AM
My guess is that its some species or another of rattlesnake.
Posted by: zeta_gelgoog | July 19, 2009 11:54 AM
Oh how cute! It's a Cloudy Snail-Sucker, Sibon nebulata.
Posted by: Michael Ogden Erickson | July 19, 2009 12:11 PM
I second Hypsiglena, H. torquata, specifically. It's body looks much too thick for Sibon and a rattlesnake? Yikes! What kind of idiot would hold a rattlesnake like that?
Posted by: chris | July 19, 2009 12:42 PM
Well, I've changed my mind. It is, indeed, Hypsiglena torquata.
Posted by: Michael Ogden Erickson | July 19, 2009 12:46 PM
Una serpiente paquena. Adjective after the noun in Spanish.:)
As for the species, darned if I know.
Posted by: Cory Trego-Erdner | July 19, 2009 12:58 PM
It is a rubbersnake, the kind of toy snakes you can buy for 3$ or less. Scary!
Posted by: Erik Knatterud | July 19, 2009 1:59 PM
"It is a rubbersnake, the kind of toy snakes you can buy for 3$ or less. Scary!"
Oh, come on. It's obviously a real snake. I now do agree it is Hypsiglena torquata.
Posted by: Michael Ogden Erickson | July 19, 2009 2:03 PM
Another vote for Hypsiglena torquata.
Posted by: AnJaCo | July 19, 2009 2:36 PM
No clue to the snake but the quote is from "Curious George"
Posted by: Chaz | July 19, 2009 2:48 PM
Not idea, but its utterly adorable, and I'm intruiged by its iridescence.
I think the answer to Joel's quiz is a reference to 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck. ( have I just outed myself as an arts student?!)
Posted by: Rosel | July 19, 2009 2:52 PM
Well, it looks like we'll have to start the Hypsiglena torquata bandwagon...
Posted by: Michael Ogden Erickson | July 19, 2009 3:08 PM
The markings and color could be that of a baby Pygmy Rattlesnake(Crotalus Ravus).
Posted by: Bob Michaels | July 19, 2009 4:15 PM
No evidence that it's a snake, forked tongues without doubt common among reptiles, limbless is assumed and NOT demonstrated. Head shape and huge amount of evidence demonstrates that it's a small gorgonopsian, most likely Vermogorgon, endemic to Mexico.
Idiot yanks will see crazy beliefs crash down around their ears - their view of vertebrate history = insane fairy tales. MY scheme is BEST, Darren Naish would not know real gorgonopsian if it camed and bited him.
Posted by: Meter Pihalda | July 19, 2009 4:44 PM
No evidence that it's a snake, forked tongues without doubt common among reptiles, limbless is assumed and NOT demonstrated. Head shape and huge amount of evidence demonstrates that it's a small gorgonopsian, most likely Vermogorgon, endemic to Mexico.
Idiot yanks will see crazy beliefs crash down around their ears - their view of vertebrate history = insane fairy tales. MY scheme is BEST, Darren Naish would not know real gorgonopsian if it camed and bited him.
Posted by: Meter Pihalda
That's halarious!!!! :-)
Posted by: Michael Ogden Erickson | July 19, 2009 4:54 PM
My last pass, it`s either a spotted car eyed snake or a splendid cat eyed.
Posted by: Bob Michaels | July 19, 2009 5:11 PM
No clue.. Hard to distinguish for this kid because it looks like it's molting..
Doesn't look like the (YOUNG) worm snake I held back in the 80's (in my South Miami front yard).. Saw what Mind said was a worm then noticed it was snaking sideways.. Closer inspection, VERY close inspection showed.. it was sticking its tongue out.. Nope, no worm I'd ever seen.. :))
When you see something like that in person, something about it, that it is *that* small and alive, functioning just as its super-sized relatives, just does not register in the Brain, at least not in mine.. Beyond amazing.. :)
@Joel, I do, I do (too).. I say it often.. I think I tweeted it once maybe even.. Yup, I did (just peeked).. :D
Warmest from Talking Rock.. :)
Posted by: Cindy Sue Causey | July 20, 2009 2:38 AM
That's a 'colubrid' of some sort, hardly a snake at all. (Just 'cos they make up 80% of ophidian diversity doesn't make them interesting.) And I think it's on drugs, I've never seen such narrow pupils in a snake. Cute though.
Posted by: John Scanlon FCD | July 20, 2009 3:27 AM
"I don't know what species it is, but it certainly is cute! I'm going to assume its name is George, and my quiz is to see if anyone can recall my reference."
And I will love him, and hug him, and pet him...
And I have no idea what kind of snake it is. Although the hands indicate that it is small, rather than far away.
Posted by: Dave Godfrey | July 20, 2009 8:26 AM
It looks like a Cloudy/Snail-eating snake (Sibon nebulata) to me.
Posted by: Morgan | July 20, 2009 11:11 AM
@Rosel: bingo!
@Dave and @JuliaM: also bingo!
The Warner Brothers animators used the character of Lennie Small (from "Of Mice and Men") as a model for big, strong, stupid monsters with a soft spot for bunny rabbits. Hugo the Abominable Snowman, from "The Abominable Snow Rabbit", is the most memorable, I think.
Posted by: Michael Richmond | July 20, 2009 12:49 PM
I think Elmira (Tiny Tunes) used that line in the "Summer Vacation" movie, too.
Posted by: Zach Miller | July 20, 2009 1:36 PM
Hahhah!
Hugo the Abominable Snowman: Just what I always wanted. My own little bunny rabbit. I will name him George, and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him...
Daffy Duck: I'm not a bunny rabbit...
Hugo the Abominable Snowman: ...and pat him and pet him and...
Daffy Duck: You're hurting me. Put me down, please.
Hugo the Abominable Snowman: ...and rub him and caress him and...
Daffy Duck: [shouts] I ain't no bunny rabbit!
Posted by: Seabold | July 20, 2009 2:24 PM
looks like our southamerican Dipsas spp. snail-eater colubrids, but i don´t know if they extend their range to Mexico
Posted by: Edgar | July 20, 2009 4:56 PM