NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Checkered Garter Snake
Thamnophis marcianus (Baird & Girard, 1853)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Medina County, Texas - Fall 2023
Benjamin Genter · CC0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The checkered garter snake (Thamnophis marcianus) is a species of garter snake in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. The species is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America. There are two recognized subspecies.
Wikipedia contributors, Checkered garter snake; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:04:12.235472+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Thamnophis marcianus (Baird & Girard, 1853)
- Name authority
- (Baird & Girard, 1853)
- Common name
- Checkered Garter Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Thamnophis
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyColubridae
- subfamilyNatricinae
- genusThamnophis
- speciesThamnophis marcianus (Baird & Girard, 1853)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Thamnophis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific Coast Aquatic Garter SnakeThamnophis atratus Kennicott, 1860 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Conant's GartersnakeThamnophis bogerti Rossman & Burbrink, 2005 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Thamnophis cyrtopsis (Kennicott, 1860) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Western Terrestrial Garter SnakeThamnophis elegans (Baird & Girard, 1853) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Montane Garter SnakeThamnophis exsul Rossman, 1969 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Giant Garter SnakeThamnophis gigas Fitch, 1940 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tamaulipan Montane Garter SnakeThamnophis mendax Walker, 1955 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Northwestern Garter SnakeThamnophis ordinoides (Baird & Girard, 1852) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Western Ribbon SnakeThamnophis proximus (Say, 1823) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eastern RibbonsnakeThamnophis saurita (Linnaeus, 1766) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Short-tail Alpine Garter SnakeThamnophis scaliger (Jan, 1863) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| West Coast Garter SnakeThamnophis validus (Kennicott, 1860) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Eutainia marciana Baird & Girard, 1853 Baird & Girard, 1853 | synonym |
| Thamnophis rozellae Smith, 1940 Smith, 1940 | synonym |
| Eutaenia nigrilatus Cope, 1892 Cope, 1892 | synonym |
| Thamnophis bovalli Dunn, 1940 Dunn, 1940 | synonym |
| Thamnophis ruthveni Hartweg & Oliver, 1938 Hartweg & Oliver, 1938 | synonym |
| Eutaenia praeocularis Bocourt, 1892 Bocourt, 1892 | synonym |
| Thamnophis arabdotus Andrews, 1937 Andrews, 1937 | synonym |
| Thamnophis marcianus nigrolateris Brown, 1889 Brown, 1889 | synonym |
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.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Thamnophis&species=marcianus 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.
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:563KY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.