Cape Gopher Snake

Open encyclopedia reference

The Cape gopher snake or Baja gopher snake (Pituophis vertebralis) is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to extreme southern Baja California Sur, Mexico. They have become increasingly popular companions for people interested in the exotic pet trade, due to their extreme color variations and relatively docile behavior. It was previously considered to be a subspecies of Pituophis catenifer.

There has been controversy whether the Baja Gopher Snake is a lower classification of the Cape Gopher Snake. Some say the Baja Gopher Snake should be in a separate sub-species of Pituophis Vertebralis Bimaris, while Cape Gopher Snakes should remain Pituophis Vertebralis Vertebralis.

Many people mistake the two as the same sub species and have cased some cross-breeding between the two.

In captivity the bloodlines are nearly all related and breeding has become especially difficult in terms of keeping the bloodlines alive.

Wikipedia contributors, Cape gopher snake; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:10:02.582092+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Pituophis vertebralis (Blainville, 1835)

Name authority

(Blainville, 1835)

Common name

Cape Gopher Snake

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Colubridae

Genus

Pituophis

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
10. suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
11. infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
12. familyColubridae
13. subfamilyColubrinae
14. genusPituophis
15. speciesPituophis vertebralis (Blainville, 1835)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Pituophis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 1,632 records assigned to Colubridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Pituophis&species=vertebralis Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4JCH3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.