Quote:
Originally Posted by valleysnakeguy
I'm new to hots, and their scientific background.
Does anyone really know the physical differences between these two species in the subject line?
Also, where the species' habitats cross each others, do they become hybrids or a new species?
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The tail rings on the
oreganus are typically more distict than on
helleri.
Their range does slightly overlap.
Since they are related subspecies a breeding of the two would produce an intergrade not a hybrid. A hybrid is a result of two species breeding.
This does occur naturally with a variety of species such as
getulas and
elaphe.
"A FIELD GUIDE TO SNAKES OF CALIFORNIA" by Philip R. Brown is a useful reference to have along with Bartlett's "Guide and Reference to the SNAKES of Western North America".