snake coluber constrictor foxii south dakota

foxii as being present in two northeastern North American jurisdictions: Ontario and Indiana (NatureServe 2012 COSEWIC 2002, 2012). foxii was reported from seven northeastern North American jurisdictions (Ontario, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa) in COSEWIC 2002, NatureServe (2012) currently only lists the subspecies C. No major range wide declines have been reported. Part 3- Ontario status based on COSSARO evaluation criteria 3.1 Application of primary criteria (rarity and declines)

The taxon or DU is present in Ontario.

The Blue Racer is a well established valid, native taxon in Ontario. Designatable unitsĪll Ontario Blue Racers live on Pelee Island and they do not meet any of the COSSARO/ COSEWIC criteria for having more than one DU. The subspecific status of the snake in Canada remains unchanged as Coluber constrictor foxii (Crother et al. In any case, putative changes in nomenclature will have no assessment significance for Ontario racers as they are clearly a single DU. At this time, there is no agreed upon new name for the Blue Racer. constrictor may not be a single taxon, particularly because several lineages are well defined geographically and are of ancient origin. (2008) proposed no taxonomic changes, but suggested that C. However, no Ontario snakes were actually sampled for this study. (2008) studied the phylogeography of Coluber constrictor using the mtDNA cytochrome b gene, and mapped Ontario racers as belonging to a central clade which has a much larger range than is traditionally attributed to subspecies foxii. foxii) (Campbell and Perrin 1991 Harding 1997 Mackinnon and Porchuk 2006).

Today, many authors accept that the valid Racer subspecies found in Ontario is the Blue Racer ( C.

flaviventris) is found in extreme southern Saskatchewan and is also listed by some authors as being present in southern Ontario (NatureServe 2012). mormon (Western Yellow–bellied Racer) occurs west of the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia. Depending on the source consulted two or three subspecies are recognized in Canada. There is still controversy surrounding the taxonomy and geographic distribution of several of these subspecies. Coluber constrictor is a polytypic species with 11 subspecies recognized (NatureServe 2012). Part 2- Eligibility for Ontario status assessment 2.1 Application of eligibility criteria Taxonomic distinctness Outside Ontario, extant populations of the Blue Racer are presently found in Ohio Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa (Harding 1997 COSEWIC 2002, 2012). Coluber constrictor foxii (Blue Racer), the subspecies that occurs in Ontario, was historically distributed from southeastern Minnesota and Iowa east to Ohio and north to extreme southwestern Ontario. NatureServe (2012) suggests the species is common (G5) in the United States. Distribution and status outside Ontario:Ĭoluber constrictor, the Racer, is widespread throughout North America from Maine to British Columbia and south to Florida and northern Guatemala (Campbell and Perrin 1991 Harding 1997). On Pelee Island, the species is restricted to the eastern two thirds of the island. The last reliable record of the Blue Racer in mainland Ontario was 1983 (Campbell & Perrin 1991). Although formerly present in Point Pelee National Park and Pinery Provincial Park in extreme southwestern Ontario, the Blue Racer is almost certainly extirpated from all mainland sites, despite these being protected areas. SRANK – S1 ( NHIC/NatureServe, accessed ) Distribution in Ontario:Ĭoluber constrictor foxii currently occurs only on Pelee Island (4091 ha) in Ontario. SARA – Endangered (Schedule 1) (Environment Canada, 2012)ĮSA 2007 – Endangered (Ministry of Natural Resources, 2007) NRANK Canada – N1 (Assessed ) (NatureServe, accessed ) GRANK – G5 The subspecies Coluber constrictor foxii occurring in Ontario is ranked G5T5 (NatureServe 2011) (Assessed ) (NatureServe, accessed )

Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario ( COSSARO) Assessed by COSSARO as Endangeredįinal Part 1- Current status and distribution Current designations:

Snake coluber constrictor foxii south dakota