Natural History of the Racer Coluber constrictorFitch, Henry S. (Henry Sheldon)
Science
Natural History of the Racer Coluber constrictor
Fitch, Henry S. (Henry Sheldon)
Racer snake
A female of 720 millimeters snout-vent length, presumably about 20
months old, but not gravid, on June 13, 1962, was described as
follows: Juvenal pattern no longer clearly discernible but scattered
traces of it remain; dorsal color predominantly grayish olive, with
occasional small black spots in streaks scattered irregularly over
dorsal and lateral surfaces; at anterior end of body lateral scales
have bluish green edges but this shading becomes less noticeable
posteriorly; head mostly olive dorsally with marking obscure;
parietals have a large faint blotch; supralabials retain faint dark,
brownish markings on their upper parts; dark spot on median edge of
each prefrontal; supraoculars slightly darker than adjacent scutes;
chin mostly white, with yellowish suffusion at edges of scales;
ventral surface predominantly yellow, but fading to grayish white
posteriorly; remnants of juvenal ventral spots faintly discernible as
tan or whitish areas on yellow ventrals.
Munro (1950b:124) mentioned a blue racer of 749 millimeters total
length (hence probably having a snout-vent length of 600 millimeters,
or a little less), which retained faint juvenal markings when caught
on June 23, 1948, even though it was sexually mature, since it laid
eggs on the night of July 4, 1948. During several weeks of captivity
this snake's markings faded perceptibly.
In fully adult blue racers, those more than three years old, the
juvenal markings have become completely obliterated. In those from the
area of my study, the dorsal coloration is subject to much individual
variation, typically olive brown, but ranging from pale bluish gray to
dark brown, dark blue, or slaty. In most, the dorsal color is uniform,
but in some there are streaks and isolated scales of black. The dark
dorsal color extends down the sides onto the lateral corners of the
ventrals and the subcaudals. The chin is white but the remainder of
the ventral surface is ivory colored.
_Bodily Proportions_
The slender and streamlined bodily proportions of the racer are
subject to change through allometric growth. The head, and especially
the eyes, are relatively large in the hatchling, and become relatively
smaller as growth proceeds. The relative tail length seemingly
increases in the growing young and then decreases slightly in adults.
Snout-vent length and tail length were recorded in almost all the
racers examined, but other measurements were recorded in relatively
few. In many racers, especially the larger adults, tails had been
damaged and lacked their terminal parts. Often only the tip was
missing, but, of course, such individuals were not usable in the study
of proportions of the tail. Table 2 summarizes information concerning
relative tail length in 935 racers of both sexes and various sizes,
from northeastern Kansas. Nearly all measurements are from the live
snakes; a few are from recently killed individuals.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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