I have adopted my favorite type of reptile, the rattlesnake. Although there are many different types of rattlesnakes, the Crotalus willardi obscurus, or New Mexican ridge nose, belongs to the Eukarya domain and is a part of the Animilia kingdom. It is located in North America's southwest region of the United states (New Mexico and Arizona) and northern part of Mexico.
This species is threatened to be endangered and might be interesting to a bioprospector because they are the newest discovery of rattlesnake in the US and are poisonous, but not enough to kill a person; therefore could serve as a prime candidate to possibly treat deadly bites.(Wikipedia).
Although they are rarely sited by humans, they do have specific traits that you could easily spot if you came across one while in the mountains of New Mexico, or Southern part of Arizona (US. Fish and wildlife). This species is terrestrial, living at high altitudes and are found around wooded areas mainly shrubs, or under rocks with loose leaves around them (wikipedia). Like other rattle snakes, The Crotalus willardi obscurus survives by eating small mammals, lizards, birds, and large centipedes (wikipedia).
Due to it's habitat this rare rattlesnake will be harshly effected if the progression of Global Warming continues because their diet relies on meat such as small mammals, and reptiles that live in these limited wooded areas of the mountains. If the trees are cut due to the heavy demands of the US paper mills, then their food sources will migrate, leaving the snakes without anything to eat terminating their survival due to starvation, and failure to feed their young. Along with starvation, another factor Global Warming would play in the extinction of this rare snake would be the effect on the altitude of which the snakes live in. If the glaciers keep melting, then the water level is going to rise, creating different altitudes. Seeing as how they only exist in high altitudes, this might make it impossible for the New Mexican ridge-nose rattlesnake to survive.
References:
U.S Fish and Wildlife service. http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/SpeciesReport.do?spcode=C01S
Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_willardi
Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bioprospector
