There are currently 35 species in the genus, with several subspecies in some of them. Many snakes previously identified as their own genera or species have been reclassified as species or subspecies in Thamnophis. The genus Thamnophis was described by Leopold Fitzinger in 1843 as the genus for the garter snakes and ribbon snakes. The first garter snake to be scientifically described was the eastern garter snake (now Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis), by zoologist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Garter snakes are closely related to the genus Nerodia (water snakes), with some species having been moved back and forth between genera. One area of debate, for example, is whether or not two specific types of snake are separate species, or subspecies of the same. With no real consensus on the classification of the species of Thamnophis, disagreements between taxonomists and disputed sources (such as field guides) are common. They also vary significantly in total length, from 18 to 51 in (46 to 130 cm). Certain subspecies have stripes of blue, yellow, or red, mixed with black and beige-tan markings. With about 35 recognized species and subspecies, garter snakes are highly variable in appearance generally, they have large round eyes with rounded pupils, a slender build, keeled scales (appearing ‘raised’), and a pattern of longitudinal stripes that may or may not include spots (although some have no stripes at all). into the arid regions of the southwest and México, Guatemala and south to the neotropics and Costa Rica. They are found from the subarctic plains of west-central Canada east through Ontario and Quebec from the Maritime Provinces and south to Florida, across the southern and central U.S. Native to North and Central America, species in the genus Thamnophis can be found in all of the lower 48 United States, and nearly all of the Canadian provinces south of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut-with the exception of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. Garter snake is the common name for small to medium-sized snakes belonging to the genus Thamnophis in the family Colubridae. Common name for North American snakes of the genus ThamnophisĪtomarchus, Chilopoma, Eutaenia, Eutainia, Phamnovis, Prymnomiodon, Stypocemus, Tropidonote, Tropidonotus
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