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Tropidoclonion
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<h2 id="common-names">Common names</h2> <p>Additional common names for <i>T. lineatum</i> include common snake, dwarf garter snake, grass snake, line snake, ribbon snake, streaked snake, striped snake, and swamp snake.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="subspecies">Subspecies</h2> <p>Four <a href="/facts/Subspecies/4L9jFacF">subspecies</a> are recognized as being valid, including the <a href="/facts/Nominotypical_subspecies/4L9jFacF">nominotypical subspecies</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p> <ul><li><i>Tropidoclonion lineatum annectens</i> Ramsey, 1953 – central lined snake</li> <li><i>Tropidoclonion lineatum lineatum</i> (<a href="/facts/Edward_Hallowell_(herpetologist)/N2eHJH9s">Hallowell</a>, 1856) – northern lined snake</li> <li><i>Tropidoclonion lineatum mertensi</i> <a href="/facts/Hobart_Muir_Smith/gnuPjqgA">H.M. Smith</a>, 1965 – <a href="/facts/Robert_Mertens/FQyV5QP4">Mertens'</a> lined snake</li> <li><i>Tropidoclonion lineatum texanum</i> Ramsey, 1953 – Texas lined snake</li></ul> <p><i><a href="/facts/Nota_bene/q7trSJUH">Nota bene</a></i>: A <a href="/facts/Trinomen/SlBQ5VlS">trinomial authority</a> in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than <i>Tropidoclonion</i>. </p> <h2 id="etymology">Etymology</h2> <p>The <a href="/facts/Subspecies/4L9jFacF">subspecific name</a>, <i>mertensi</i>, is in honor of German <a href="/facts/Herpetology/41JyLR79">herpetologist</a> <a href="/facts/Robert_Mertens/FQyV5QP4">Robert Mertens</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="geographic-range">Geographic range</h2> <p>The lined snake is found throughout the central <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> from <a href="/facts/Illinois/MuPb1Ctn">Illinois</a> to <a href="/facts/Texas/B987WHF0">Texas</a>. </p> <h2 id="habitat">Habitat</h2> <p>The preferred <a href="/facts/Habitat/zo1DN2gA">habitat</a> of <i>T. lineatum</i> is <a href="/facts/Grassland/T4P1kqT0">grassland</a> areas with soft, moist soils. </p> <h2 id="description">Description</h2> <p>The lined snake is olive <a href="/facts/Green/gFTac7St">green</a> to <a href="/facts/Brown/QQNvjboh">brown</a> with a distinctive <a href="/facts/Tan_(color)/mYwBAohf">tan</a> or <a href="/facts/Yellow/KrLNgk4v">yellow</a> stripe running down the middle of the back from head to <a href="/facts/Tail/RXACP06e">tail</a>. It has similar stripes, one down each side on scale rows 2 and 3.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> On the belly, it has a double row of clean-cut black half-moon spots running down the middle.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> It has a narrow head and small <a href="/facts/Eye/h3lbYU55">eyes</a>. </p><p>Adult size is typically less than 35 cm (14 inches) in total length (including tail). However, maximum recorded total length is 53 cm (21 in).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p><p>The keeled <a href="/facts/Dorsal_scales/g8coh9vl">dorsal scales</a> are arranged in 19 rows at midbody. There are only 5 or 6 <a href="/facts/Supralabial_scales/rWVnDASs">upper labials</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="behavior">Behavior</h2> <p>The lined snake is semi<a href="/facts/Fossorial/98TbrC3h">fossorial</a>, spending most of its time hiding under rocks, leaf litter, logs, or buried in the soil. </p> <h2 id="diet">Diet</h2> <p>The majority of the <a href="/facts/Diet_(nutrition)/7qzDHpop">diet</a> of <i>T. lineatum</i> consists of <a href="/facts/Earthworm/V7IUvWgQ">earthworms</a>. </p> <h2 id="reproduction">Reproduction</h2> <p>The lined snake is <a href="/facts/Ovoviviparous/sPk5JLTN">ovoviviparous</a>, the young being born in August. The average brood is seven or eight.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> The newborn juveniles are 10–12 cm (4-4¾ in.) long at birth.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/John_L._Behler/PIYLS9vf">Behler JL</a>, King FW (1979). <i>The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians</i>. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp.657 color plates. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-394-50824-6. (<i>Tropidoclonion lineatum</i>, pp. 677-678 + Plate 507).</li> <li><a href="/facts/Roger_Conant_(herpetologist)/fUn83kT6">Conant R</a>, Bridges W (1939). <i>What Snake Is That? A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains</i>. (With 108 drawings by Edmond Malnate). New York and London: D. Appleton-Century. Frontispiece map + viii + 163 pp. + Plates A-C, 1-32. (<i>Tropidoclonion lineatum</i>, pp. 114–115 + Plate 21, Figure 63).</li> <li><a href="/facts/Edward_Hallowell_(herpetologist)/N2eHJH9s">Hallowell E</a> (1856). "Notice of a Collection of Reptiles from Kansas and Nebraska, presented to the Academy of Natural Sciences, by Dr. Hammond, U. S. A." <i>Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia</i> 8: 238-253. (<i>Microps</i>, new genus, p. 240; <i>Microps lineatus</i>, new species, p. 241).</li> <li><a href="/facts/Robert_Powell_(herpetologist)/QhkJC7qx">Powell R</a>, Conant R, <a href="/facts/Joseph_T._Collins/81LqCTAL">Collins JT</a> (2016). <i>Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition</i>. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 plates, 207 figures. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-544-12997-9. (<i>Tropidoclonion lineatum</i>, p. 433 + Plate 44).</li> <li><a href="/facts/Robert_C._Stebbins/lrTksMlu">Stebbins RC</a> (2003). <i>A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition</i>. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. xiii + 533 pp. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-395-98272-3 (paperback). (<i>Tropidoclonion lineatum</i>, p. 391 + Plate 50 + Map 168).</li> <li><a href="/facts/Albert_Hazen_Wright/3TQHVhno">Wright AH</a>, Wright AA (1957). <i>Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada</i>. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Genus <i>Tropidoclonion</i> p. 879 + Figure 20, a-c, on p. 71; and species <i>Tropidoclonion lineatum</i>, pp. 879–884, Figure 252, Map 62).</li> <li><a href="/facts/Herbert_S._Zim/BxaYKIFM">Zim HS</a>, <a href="/facts/Hobart_Muir_Smith/gnuPjqgA">Smith HM</a> (1956). <i>Reptiles and Amphibians: A Guide to Familiar American Species: A Golden Nature Guide</i>. Revised Edition. New York: Simon and Schuster. 160 pp. ("Lined Snake", pp. 106, 156).</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tropidoclonion. <a href="/facts/Wikispecies/b2GhA7Le">Wikispecies</a> has information related to <i>Tropidoclonion lineatum</i>. <ul><li>Species <i><a href="http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species.php?genus=Tropidoclonion&species=lineatum">Tropidoclonion lineatum</a></i> at <a href="http://www.reptile-database.org/">The Reptile Database</a></li></ul> <ul><li><a href="http://www.oksnakes.org/index.cfm?snakeID=17&venomous=0&patterned=0&striped=0&solid=0&all=0"><i>Tropidoclonion</i> at Oklahoma Snakes</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.iowaherps.com/species/tropidoclonion_lineatum">Lined Snake</a>, Reptiles and Amphibians of Iowa</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Tropidoclonion lineatum ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Tropidoclonion lineatum ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Tropidoclonion lineatum mertensi, p. 176). <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Schmidt KP, Davis DD (1941). Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Son's. 365 pp. (Tropidoclonion lineatum, pp. 257-259, Figure 83 + Plate 29, Top, on p. 349). <a href="/wiki/Karl_Patterson_Schmidt" target="_blank">/wiki/Karl_Patterson_Schmidt</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>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). (Tropidoclonion lineatum, pp. 166-167 + Plate 24 + Map 123). <a href="/wiki/Roger_Conant_(herpetologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Roger_Conant_(herpetologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3 (paperback). (Tropidoclonion lineatum, pp. 152-153). <a href="/wiki/Hobart_Muir_Smith" target="_blank">/wiki/Hobart_Muir_Smith</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3 (paperback). (Tropidoclonion lineatum, pp. 152-153). <a href="/wiki/Hobart_Muir_Smith" target="_blank">/wiki/Hobart_Muir_Smith</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Force ER (1931). "Habits and Birth of the Lined Snake, Tropidoclonion lineatum (Hallowell)". Copeia 1931: 51-53. <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>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). (Tropidoclonion lineatum, pp. 166-167 + Plate 24 + Map 123). <a href="/wiki/Roger_Conant_(herpetologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Roger_Conant_(herpetologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>