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Reptilia    Squamata (part-snakes)    Colubridae  
Banded Sandsnake
Sonora cincta (Cope, 1861)
soh-NOHR-ah — SINK-tuh
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SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 See comments under Sonora. (Boundy, Jeff, Frank T. Burbrink, and Sara Ruane. 2025. Squamata (excluding lizards) – Snakes. Pages 38-54 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

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Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 405 Total; 87 Museum; 318 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,832 records, and geographic and taxonomic errors exist. Logged-in, registered users may report a potential issue directly from the marker popup.
Shaded range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. (Version: 2024.02.19.18.54.52)
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: Arizona

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its encircling or banded pattern.
Sonora — Named after the Sonoran Desert or Sonora state in Mexico, referencing the region where many species in the genus are found.
cincta — From Latin cinctus, “girded” or “banded,” from cingere, “to gird.” Refers to banding or striping patterns on the body.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Banded Sand Snake (Chilomeniscus cinctus: 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.);


Selected References:
1861 Cope, Edward D. Contributions to the ophiology of Lower California, Mexico and Central America. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 13:292-306
1963 Banta, Benjamin H. and Alan E. Leviton. Remarks on the colubrid genus Chilomeniscus (Serpentes: Colubridae). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 1st Series 31(11):309-327
2012 Cox, Christian L. Phylogenetic systematics, populations genetics, and the evolution of color pattern polymorphism and coral snake mimicry in the snake genus Sonora. Dissertation. University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas. 159pp.
2013 Cox, Christian L. and Alison R. Davis Rabosky. Spatial and temporal drivers of phenotypic diversity in polymorphic snakes. The American Naturalist 182(2):E40-E57
2014 Cox, Christian L. and Paul T. Chippindale. Patterns of genetic diversity in the polymorphic ground snake (Sonora semiannulata). Genetica 142:361-370

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