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Reptilia    Squamata (part-snakes)    Colubridae  

Western Patch-nosed Snake
Salvadora hexalepis (Cope, 1866)
sal-VOH-doh-rah — HEX-ah-lep-iss

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record), (,   Citizen Science), (  Fossil)
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Occurrences:; 5,126 Total; 3,361 Museum; 1,765 Other
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: Arizona California Nevada New Mexico Texas Utah

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its scalation pattern.
Salvadora — Named in honor of José Salvado, a Spanish naturalist—or possibly derived from salvator, Latin for “savior.” The original author (Baird & Girard, 1853) did not specify the origin clearly, but the name was likely a personal tribute.
hexalepis — From Greek hex (ἕξ), “six,” and lepis (λεπίς), “scale.” Likely refers to the arrangement of six distinct upper labial or dorsal head scales distinguishing the species from close relatives.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Graham's Snake (Phimothyra gahami: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Graham's Arizona Snake (Phimothyra grahami hexalepis: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Western Patch-nosed Snake (Salavadora hexalepis: Van Denburgh, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); Big-bend Patch-nosed Snake (Salvadora hexalepis deserticola: Schmidt, Karl Peterson and D. D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. C.P. Putnam and Sons, New York. 365pp.); Desert Patch-nosed Snake (Salvadora hexalepis hexalepis: Schmidt, Karl Peterson and D. D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. C.P. Putnam and Sons, New York. 365pp.); Pacific Patch-nosed Snake (Salvadora hexalepis virgultea: Schmidt, Karl Peterson and D. D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. C.P. Putnam and Sons, New York. 365pp.); Western Patch-nosed Snake (Salvadora hexalepis: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Desert Patch-nosed Snake (Salvadora hexalepis hexalepis: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Pacific Patch-nosed Snake (Salvadora hexalepis virgultea: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1866 Cope, Edward D. Fourth contribution to the herpetology of tropical America. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 18:123–132
1940 Schmidt, Karl P. Notes on Texan snakes of the genus Salvadora. Field Museum of Natural History. Zoological Series 24(12):143-150
1945 Bogert, Charles M. Two additional races of the patch-nosed snake, Salvadora hexalepis . American Museum Novitates (1285):1-14
2016 Myers, Edward A., Michael J. Hickerson, and Frank T. Burbrink. Asynchronous diversification of snakes in the North American warm deserts. Journal of Biogeography 44(2):1-14
2017 Bezy, Robert L., Philip C. Rosen, Thomas R. Van Devender, and Erik F. Enderson. Southern distributional limits of the Sonoran Desert herpetofauna along the mainland coast of northwestern Mexico. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(1):138-167

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Monday 10 August 2026 04:08 CT