A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

Trimorphodon lyrophanes - California Lyresnake

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Range in California: Red

Green: Sonoran Lyresnake

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Adult, San Diego County

Juvenile, San Diego County. © Gary Nafis. Specimen courtesy of Tim Burkhardt

Adult, San Diego County

Adult, Santa Barbara County
© Patrick Briggs

Adult, San Bernardino County © Patrick Briggs

Adult, San Bernardino County
© Richard Cazares

Adult, San Bernardino County, west of the Providence Mountains.
© Brad Sillasen

Snake shown to the left, showing the undivided anal plate. © William Flaxington

Adult, San Diego County
© Michael Clarkson

Adult, east of the Granite Mountains, San Bernardino County. © Keith Condon

Adult, San Diego County mountains.
© Stuart Young

Adult, San Diego County
© Bruce Edley

Adult, San Diego County
© Michael Clarkson

Anerythristic adult, Inyo County © Ryan Sikola

Habitat

Habitat, San Diego County desert

Habitat, Riverside County riparian canyon

Habitat, San Bernardino County desert.
© William Flaxington

Habitat, coastal San Diego County

Habitat, desert Lava Flow,
San Bernardino County

Habitat, San Diego County desert

Short Video

A lyre snake coils up defensively and strikes.

A lyre snake crawls up a steep rock outcrop at night.

A lyre snake shows off its rock climbing skills at night in San Diego County.

I put the video camera on the dashboard one night while road cruising a rocky pass in San Diego County and eventually a lyre snake showed up on the road. It might look like I stopped in the middle of the road, but actually I drove ahead and parked safely before running back to film the snake from closer up.

Description

Mildly Venomous

One of the larger rear-fanged snakes, but considered harmless to humans, but handle with caution, as some people have had unpleasant reactions to this snake's bite.

Size

Trimorphodon have been recorded from 18 - 47 3/4 inches in length (46 - 121 cm). Most snakes encountered are 24 - 36 inches long (61 - 91 cm).

Appearance

A slender snake with a broad head well-differentiated from the slim neck. Coloring closely matches a snake's rocky habitat, from gray to light brown. There are usually about 35 dorsal blotches with light edges and a pale crossbar in the center, and smaller irregular blotches on the lower sides. A lyre-shaped marking is present on top of the head. The pupils are vertical, like those of a cat. The underside is off-white or yellowish with dark spots. The anal plate is usually undivided.
According to Stebbins there is a dark form of this snake with a light brown middorsal stripe found at the Pisgah lava flow.

Behavior

Nocturnal, active in very dry conditions as well as during rains. Terrestrial, and good climbers. This snake often searches rock crevices for prey. It can be found during the day inside crevices in large rock outcrops, as well as crossing desert roads at night.

Diet

Primarily lizards, but also known to eat small mammals, nestling birds, and snakes.

Reproduction

Not well known. Lyre snakes apparently originated in the tropics, where breeding is year round, and the northern races may have retained this capability.

Range

In California, this snake occurs from around Santa Barbara County northeast into Inyo County, and south along the coast into Baja California, in two strips through the peninsular ranges, and along the Colorado River, splitting around the Imperial Valley. It is also absent from a large area of the Mojave Desert except for isolated localities including the Pisgah lava flow area. This may be due to the secretive nature of this snake. It may be more widespread in this area.

Habitat

Associated primarily with rocky locations in desert scrub and grassland, chaparral, oak woodland, coniferous forest, but found in rockless areas, also.

Taxonomic Notes

Devitt et al, in a 2008 paper*, recommended that the subspecies of Trimorphodon biscutatus - lambda, lyrophanes, and vilkinsonii, be recognized as distinct species - Trimorphodon lambda, Trimorphodon lyrophanes, and Trimorphodon vilkinsonii.

*Thomas J. Devitt, Travis J. LaDuc & Jimmy A. McGuire. (2008. The Trimorphodon biscutatus (Squamata: Colubridae) Species Complex Revisited: A Multivariate Statistical Analysis of Geographic Variation. Copeia. 2008(2): 370-387)

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

None.

Taxonomy
Family	Colubridae	Colubrids
Genus	Trimorphodon	Lyresnakes
Species	lyrophanes	California Lyresnake
Original Description
Trimorphodon biscutatus - (Dumeril, Bibron and Dumeril, 1854) - Erpet. Gen., Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 1153 Trimorphodon biscutatus lyrophanes - Cope, 1860 Trimorphodon lyrophanes - Cope, 1860 from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Trimorphodon - Greek - tri - three, and morph - shape, and odon- teeth - refers to the 3 tooth shapes in the upper jaw, recurved anterior teeth; the shorter middle teeth and elongate, grooved fangs at the rear. lyrophanes - Greek - lyro - lyre, and phaneros - visible - probably refers to they lyre-like pattern on the head from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
Trimorphodon biscutatus lyrophanes - Baja California Lyre Snake Trimorphodon biscutatus - Western Lyre Snake (no subspecies recognized) Formerly called California Lyre Snake - T. b. vandenburghii
Related or Similar California Snakes
T. lambda - Sonoran Lyresnake Great Basin Gopher Snake San Diego Gopher Snake Desert Glossy Snake California Glossy Snake
More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer California Dept. of Fish and Game Stebbins, Robert C., and McGinnis, Samuel M. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012. Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972. Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998. Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Snakes of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009. Bartlett, R. D. & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000. Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997. Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press. Devitt, Thomas J., Travis J. LaDuc, and Jimmy A. McGuire. The Trimorphodon biscutatus (Squamata: Colubridae) Species Complex Revisited: A Multivariate Statistical Analysis of Geographic Variation. Copeia. 2008 (2): 370-387.

Conservation Status
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. This snake is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)	None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)	None
California Department of Fish and Wildlife	None
Bureau of Land Management	None
USDA Forest Service	None
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List

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