Sistrurus
Genus of snakes
title: "Sistrurus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["sistrurus", "reptiles-of-mexico", "reptiles-of-canada", "reptiles-of-the-united-states", "extant-miocene-first-appearances", "snake-genera", "taxa-named-by-samuel-garman"] description: "Genus of snakes" topic_path: "geography/mexico" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistrurus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of snakes ::
| image = Sisistrus miliaris miliaris.jpg | image_caption = Pygmy rattlesnake (S. miliarius). | taxon = Sistrurus | authority = Garman, 1884 | range_map = Sistrurus sp. distribution.png | range_map_caption = Distribution (using two-species model) | synonyms = * Crotalophorus Gray, 1825
:Common names: ground rattlesnakes, pygmy rattlesnakes, massasaugas
Sistrurus is a genus of pit vipers in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The genus is endemic to Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Its generic name is a Latinized form of the Greek word for "tail rattler" (Σείστρουρος, seistrouros) and shares its root with the ancient Egyptian musical instrument, the sistrum, a type of rattle. Three species are currently recognized.
Description
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Head_Scales_of_Crotalus_and_Sistrurus.jpg" caption="Difference in head scalation between snakes of the genus ''Crotalus'' and the genus ''Sistrurus''."] ::
Sistrurus species differ from the larger rattlesnakes of the genus Crotalus in a number of ways. They are smaller in size, but also their scalation is different: Sistrurus species have nine large head plates (same as Agkistrodon), whereas in Crotalus (and almost all other viperids), the head is mostly covered with a large number of smaller scales. Sistrurus species have a relatively small rattle that produces more of a high-pitched, buzzing sound than does a larger rattle, like that of Crotalus.
Geographic range
Species of Sistrurus are found in Canada, the Western, Southern, and Midwestern United States, and isolated populations in southern and eastern Mexico.
Venom
Although bites from Sistrurus species are regarded as less dangerous to humans than those from Crotalus rattlesnakes, primarily due to their lower venom yield, every venomous snake bite should be considered serious, and prompt medical treatment should always be sought.
Species
::data[format=table]
| Image | Species | Taxon author | Subsp. | Common name | Geographic range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Sistrurus catenatus.jpg | 120px]] | S. catenatus | (Rafinesque, 1818) | - | eastern massasauga |
| [[File:Sistrurus miliarius miliarius rote Zwergklapperschlange.jpg | 120px]] | S. miliarius T | (Linnaeus, 1766) | 3 | pygmy rattlesnake |
| [[File:Sistrurus catetanus tergeminus by LA Dawson.jpg | frameless | 120x120px]] | S. tergeminus | (Say, 1823) | 2 |
| :: |
T) Type species.
References
References
- [[Roy Wallace McDiarmid. McDiarmid RW]], [[Jonathan A. Campbell. Campbell JA]], [[T'Shaka A. Touré. Touré TA]] (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN. 1-893777-00-6 (series). {{ISBN. 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
- [[Albert Hazen Wright. Wright AH]], [[Anna Allen Wright. Wright AA]] (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press. (7th printing, 1985). 1,105 pp. (in two volumes). {{ISBN. 0-8014-0463-0. (''Sistrurus'', pp. 1040-1061).
- {{ITIS
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