Mexican Brown Snake

Fascinating facts about the Mexican Brown Snake

• When Edward Drinker Cope first described this snake in 1866, he placed it in a genus that today is called Tropidoclonion, highlighting how taxonomic views can shift over a century. Samuel Garman later re-assigned it to its own genus, Storeria, in 1883, underscoring the species' distinct traits within its family. This taxonomic journey shows how scientists refine classifications as they learn more.
• Most Mexican brown snakes measure only 26–30 cm (10–12 in) from snout to tail, with females reaching up to 34 cm (13 in) and males up to 32.8 cm (12.9 in).
• The snake’s back bears more than 50 horizontal dark bars on a variable brown background, and its belly is salmon to orange-red with dark spots.
• Endemic to Mexico, the species stretches northward from the western Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt along the Sierra Madre Occidental, with confirmed sightings as far north as Madera, Chihuahua, and also in Coahuila near Zacatecas.

At a glance

About the Mexican Brown Snake

The Mexican brown snake, Storeria storerioides, is a non-venomous colubrid endemic to Mexico, mainly in the western part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt where it inhabits pine and oak forests, often found beneath logs or plant litter. Adults are typically 26–30 cm long; the maximum recorded length is about 32.8 cm for males and 34 cm for females, with the tail making up a little over a fifth of the total length. Its back is a variable shade of brown with more than fifty dark horizontal bars, the belly is salmon to orange-red with dark spots, and a pair of dark occipital markings extends about three scales down the back from the head.

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