Coast Night Snake vs. Desert Nightsnake

Split on genetics; the two meet where the coast ranges drop into the deserts, and their records overlap there. A: Divided: the dark neck marks are split into 2 or 3 blotches or streaks that rarely join in the Coast Night Snake; fused: the neck marks join into one broad dark brown collar across the nape in the Desert Nightsnake. B: Darker greyish-brown, buff or olive; the blotches darker but less contrasting in the Coast Night Snake; lighter sandy tan, cream or pale grey; sharper, high-contrast dark blotches in the Desert Nightsnake. C: Dark spots behind the eyes run back as narrow lines toward the neck blotches in the Coast Night Snake; broader marks that merge straight into the dark neck collar in the Desert Nightsnake. Both usually have 21 scale rows at midbody, so scale counts do not help; neck pattern and range are the keys (DNA settles the rest). Coast Night Snake: west of the deserts. Desert Nightsnake: the Mojave and Colorado deserts and the Great Basin.

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

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