Pituophis catenifer (Gopher Snake)
about the species
The gopher snake, Pituophis catenifer, is one of two extraordinarily widespread species of harmless snake native to the western US (the other is the common kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula). The species has a range encompassing the western half of the US, the northern third of Mexico, and southern Canada, and inhabits all ecosystems and elevations within that range. In California, the species includes five subspecies that constitute an ecological and geographical replacement series for the entire state: Pituophis catenifer affinis (Sonoran gopher snake), Pituophis catenifer annectens (San Diego gopher snake), Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher snake), Pituophis catenifer deserticola (great basin gopher snake), and Pituophis catenifer pumilis (Santa Cruz island gopher snake).
why species was selected
We focus on this species because taken together, the five subspecies provide a nearly complete representation of the ecological diversity in the state with the exception of the high Sierra Nevada ecosystem (it is absent above about 2800 m elevation). It is also a key ecological foundational species, a generalist predator, and has the widest distributional and ecological range of any squamate in California, ranging from Douglass fir/redwood forest in northwestern California to the Mojave and adjacent low deserts in the southeast. We view it as a perfect fit to the ecological foundational species component of the CCGP project.
