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Animal profile

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Crotalus atrox

ReptiliaDesert scrub, mesquite grassland, rocky canyons and thornscrub of the southwestern United States and MexicoLeast Concern

Field profile

The western diamondback is a large, widespread rattlesnake marked with dark diamonds and a black and white banded tail. It is the leading cause of snakebite deaths in the United States and Mexico. It shelters in rock crevices, burrows and under debris.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-01-22

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

The facial pit is an infrared imaging organ

Between eye and nostril, a pit viper carries a membrane suspended in a chamber, richly supplied with nerve endings tuned to heat. Signals from it merge with vision in the brain, letting a rattlesnake strike accurately in total darkness.

Read with evidence →

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake | Daily Animal Facts