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Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus)🐍

Photo: Benjamin Genter · CC0

SpeciesViperidae
Reptiles

🐍Eastern massasauga

Sistrurus catenatus (Rafinesque, 1818)

The eastern massasauga is a species of rattlesnake found in eastern North America, from southern Ontario, Canada, eastern regions of the Midwestern states, and parts of the Great Lakes region in the United States. Like all rattlesnakes, it is a pit viper and is venomous; it is the only species of venomous snake in Ontario.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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None yet
Photos
1
Measurements
9
vs you
≈ 1/160th of your weight
Also called
Sistrurus catenatus, Massasauga, Black massasauga
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2007.

Population trendUnknown
Key measurements
Body mass
0.38 kg
Body length
1.03 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
20 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Eastern massasauga

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
0.38 kgrecord 0.57 kg · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Body length
1.03 mmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
20 yearsrecord 20 years · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Gestation
107 days
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Litter size
about 8
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Activity cycle
Diurnal
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Venomous
Yes
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Snout–vent length
0.54 mmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
0.4 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Eastern massasauga yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classSquamata
  4. ›familyViperidae
  5. ›genusSistrurus
  6. ›speciesSistrurus catenatus
Full lineage
  1. orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
  2. infraorderSnakes · Serpentes
  3. subfamilyCrotalinae
  4. genusSistrurus
All 14 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. superorderLepidosauria
  10. orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
  11. infraorderSnakes · Serpentes
  12. familyViperidae
  13. subfamilyCrotalinae
  14. genusSistrurus
More

More about the Eastern massasauga

In other languages
Sistrurus catenatus (es), Massassauga (de), Sistrurus catenatus (pl), Sistrurus catenatus (fr), 꼬마방울뱀 (ko), Цепочный карликовый гремучник (ru) … and 14 more languages
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