Banded Flat-nosed Snake

Salvadora grahamiae, (Baird & Girard)

Colouration: On the back is a wide yellow band, extending the entire length of the body; this band is about three scales wide; it is bordered on each side by a dark brown or olive band of about the same width. Beneath the brown band to the edges of the abdominal plates is a greenish or pale brownish area. The abdomen is yellow.
Dimensions: An adult specimen from northern Chihuahua, Mexico, shows the following measurements:
Distribution: Western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California and Lower California; the species also occurs in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico. It is fairly abundant within the United States.

Size moderate. Snout blunt and square owing to the peculiar development of the rostral shield, the sides of which are sharp and slightly separated from the head.

Some variation is evinced by this species. The brown bands may be more or less distinct and with occasional specimens they are broken into rows of dark spots. The head is generally light and without markings above; the lips are bright yellow.

Total Length. . . . . 2 feet 4 inches.

Length of Tail. . . . . 5 3/4 inches.

Greatest Diameter. . . . . 1/2 inches.

Width of Head. . . . . 1/2 inches.

Length of Head. . . . . 3/4 inches.

The Genus Phyllorhynchus: The species are quite distinct from those of Salvadora and appear to be very rare. The rostral plate is enormously developed; the head is short, thick and chunky and the eye very large, with elliptical pupil.

The scalation of the head generally--apart from the unusual development of the nose-plate--is interesting and different from the majority of colubrine snakes of this country. Between the eye and the upper lip plates (superior labials) is a row of small scales. There are two or three plates in front of the eye (supraoculars) and two to four loreal plates.