PATRICK HOUSTON BRIGGS

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Pituophis deppei deppei

Updated: Apr 23, 2024

MEXICAN PINE SNAKE Pituophis deppei deppei
Durango Mountains Mexico locality
Photograph by Patrick Houston Briggs 2000 Courtesy to Tom Moisi

 
MEXICAN PINE SNAKE Pituophis deppei deppei
Durango Mountains Mexico locality
Photograph by Patrick Houston Briggs 2000 Courtesy to Tom Moisi

MEXICAN PINE SNAKE Pituophis deppei deppei
Durango Mountains Mexico locality
Photograph by Patrick Houston Briggs 2000 Courtesy to Tom Moisi

Mexican Pine Snake (Dumeril 1853)
(Pituophis deppei deppei)
By Patrick Briggs
The Mexican Pine Snake Pituophis deppei deppei is named after Ferdinand Deppe who was a naturalist, explorer, and painter who travelled to Mexico in 1827. The Mexican Pine Snake is a creature that has progressively become more popular among herpetoculturists for the past few years and is now very common. The blotches are black or dark brown anteriorly and near the tail, but in the midbody region, they are brown outlined with darker brown on light ground coloration. Earlier records, including Stull’s geographical  range, contradict current records of the deppei range. Currently, its range is known to occur from southeastern Chihuahua across Coahuila to central Nuevo Leon south to central Oaxaca in Mexico, and apparently , is absent along the coast. (Earlier records such as Stull 1940, may have included the P. c. affinis with P. deppei extending its range completely westward to Gulf of California and north to southeastern California and southwestern Texas.)  Perhaps, some hybrids with prominent characters of P. d. deppei may have confused the range studies or maybe the ophidian form better fit for the that region has currently overwhelmed the other.
 
MEXICAN PINE SNAKE Pituophis deppei deppei
Durango Mountains Mexico locality
Photograph by Patrick Houston Briggs 2000 Courtesy to Tom Moisi

MEXICAN PINE SNAKE Pituophis deppei deppei
Durango Mountains Mexico locality

Photograph by Patrick Houston Briggs 2000 Courtesy to Tom Moisi

 
MEXICAN PINE SNAKE Pituophis deppei deppei neonate
Photograph by Patrick Houston Briggs 2000 Courtesy to Tom Moisi

MEXICAN PINE SNAKE Pituophis deppei deppei
Durango Mountains Mexico locality
Photograph by Patrick Houston Briggs 2000 Courtesy to Tom Moisi

Mexican Pine Snakes like many Pituophis vary in color and body pattern. Specimens from specific locations are known for their unique characteristics for their respective region. For example, Durango Mountain specimens usually sport high contrast with striking beauty. (See the photo images labeled 1, 2, & 3 ) Mexican Pine Snakes’ ground color is usually cream colored, white, yellowish, buff, tan, or even, olive with orange highlights anteriorly. Pituophis deppei deppei is marked by 43-59  defined dark black or brown quadrangular blotches, saddle shape markings, spots, or bars above including the tail that are 2-8 scales long and 10-13 scales wide (32-44 on the body only). The light spaces between them are 4 or less scales in length. This differs in the number of blotches above and in the number of interspace scales between the upper blotches with the northeastern race, Pituophis deppei  jani which has only 29-35 blotches and interspaces of 5 or more scales in length between them. Toward the rear of the body, the blotches are somewhat quadrangular, not fusing at the sides. The secondary spots sometimes referred to as intercalaries run along the sides or laterals of the body. The coloration of these secondaries generally parallels the blotches above in color. The head and throat are both pale with some dots above on the head, and although there usually is no dark band between the eyes, there are some dashes, bars and lines or suture marks that border the labials of the mouth and sometimes small marks or dots on the posterior labials. The anterior venter is usually immaculate,  but spots on both sides of the ventrals increase posteriorly. Unlike many Pituophis forms, the prefrontal scutellation of this form is 2 instead of 4. Mexican Pine Snakes possess 211-233 ventrals and 52-79 subcaudals.

The mandibular teeth number 20-22 and become progressively smaller towards the back of the mouth. The maxillaries number 18 and also decrease slightly toward the rear. The smaller palatine teeth are from 9-11, whereas the pterygoids are even smaller than the palatine and number from 8-14 also slightly decreasing posteriorly.

 

Scutellation of Pituophis deppei deppei

– Midbody Scales: 27-31
– Supralabials: 7-9 (4th & 5th, 3rd & 4th, or 5th & 6th enter eye)
– Ventrals: 211-233
– Infralabials: 10-14
– Caudals: 52-79
– Preoculars: 1-2
– Postoculars: 2-4
– Loreal: Sometimes present
– Frontal: Undivided and not creased
– Prefrontals: 2
– Azygos: Sometimes present between prefrontals and preoculars
– Rostral: Broad as or broader than long and extending deep into internasals
– Anal: Single (entire)


Lloyd Lemke and Patrick Briggs with a woma 1995
 
Range of deppei and lineaticollis By Duellman posted by Javier Rodriguez Robles
 
 
 
 

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