Rat snake
Encyclopedia
Rat snakes are medium to large constrictor
s that can be found through a great portion of the northern hemisphere
. They feed primarily on rodent
s and bird
s and, with some species exceeding 3 m (10 feet), they can occupy top levels of some food chain
s. Many species make attractive and docile pet
s and one, the corn snake
, is one of the most popular reptile pets in the world. Other species can be very skittish and sometimes aggressive but bites are seldom serious. As with nearly all colubrids, rat snakes pose no threat to humans. Rat snakes were long thought to be completely nonvenomous, but recent studies have shown that some Old World species do possess small amounts of venom (amounts so small as to be negligible to humans).
Previously, most rat snakes were assigned to the genus Elaphe
but many have been since renamed following mitochondrial DNA
analysis performed in 2002. For the purpose of this article names will be harmonized with the TIGR Database.
All published taxonomy remains a taxonomic suggestion until ruled on by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN - http://www.iczn.org/), but the body has so far not supported the change and has not addressed the taxonomic suggestion, thus the official taxonomy remains Elaphe.
Crother et al. (2003) rejected the taxonomic change to Pantherophis, preferring to retain the current concept of Elaphe and the spelling obsoleta.
is one of the most popular pet reptiles, and belongs to the rat snake family. New world species are generally thought to be more docile in captivity as opposed to old world rat snakes, of which the opposite is assumed.
Constriction
Constriction is a method used by various snake species to kill their prey. Although some species of venomous and mildly-venomous snakes do use constriction to subdue their prey, most snakes which use constriction lack venom. The snake initially strikes at its prey and holds on, pulling the prey...
s that can be found through a great portion of the northern hemisphere
Holarctic
The Holarctic ecozone refers to the habitats found throughout the northern continents of the world as a whole. This region is divided into the Palearctic, consisting of Northern Africa and all of Eurasia, with the exception of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, and the Nearctic,...
. They feed primarily on rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s and bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s and, with some species exceeding 3 m (10 feet), they can occupy top levels of some food chain
Food chain
A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
s. Many species make attractive and docile pet
Pet
A pet is a household animal kept for companionship and a person's enjoyment, as opposed to wild animals or to livestock, laboratory animals, working animals or sport animals, which are kept for economic or productive reasons. The most popular pets are noted for their loyal or playful...
s and one, the corn snake
Corn Snake
The Corn Snake , or Red Rat Snake, is a North American species of Rat Snake that subdues its small prey by constriction. The name "Corn Snake" is a holdover from the days when southern farmers stored harvested ears of corn in a wood frame or log building called a crib...
, is one of the most popular reptile pets in the world. Other species can be very skittish and sometimes aggressive but bites are seldom serious. As with nearly all colubrids, rat snakes pose no threat to humans. Rat snakes were long thought to be completely nonvenomous, but recent studies have shown that some Old World species do possess small amounts of venom (amounts so small as to be negligible to humans).
Previously, most rat snakes were assigned to the genus Elaphe
Elaphe
Elaphe is one of the main genera of the rat snakes, which are found in many regions of the northern hemisphere. Elaphe are medium to large constrictors by nature....
but many have been since renamed following mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
analysis performed in 2002. For the purpose of this article names will be harmonized with the TIGR Database.
Old World
- Philippine rat snake (Coelognathus erythrurus) DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854
- Yellow rat snake (Coelognathus flavolineatus) SCHLEGEL 1837
- Trinket snake (Coelognathus helena) DAUDIN 1803
- Copperhead rat snake (Coelognathus radiata) BOIE 1827
- Indonesian Rat snake (Coelognathus subradiata) SCHLEGEL 1837
- Twin-spotted rat snake (Elaphe bimaculataElaphe bimaculataElaphe bimaculata, the Twin-spotted Ratsnake or Chinese Cornsnake, is a small ratsnake found in China. It occurs as both blotched and striped phase, with the blotched type being the more common or "typical" phase. Some specimens even exhibit a pattern of half blotched, half striped where the...
) SCHMIDT 1925 - King rat snake (Elaphe carinataElaphe carinataThe King Ratsnake or Keeled Ratsnake Elaphe carinata is a species of Colubrid snake found in Southeast Asia.-Description:The other common names "stink snake" or "stinking goddess" refer to this species' highly developed post-anal glands which, when the snake is picked up, are frequently emptied,...
) GÜNTHER 1864 - Japanese rat snake (Elaphe climacophoraJapanese Rat SnakeThe Japanese Rat Snake is a medium sized snake found throughout the Japanese archipelago . In Japanese it is known as the Aodaishō or "Green General". It is a non-venomous snake, and a member of the Colubrid family...
) BOIE 1826 - David's rat snake (Elaphe davidi) SAUVAGE 1884
- Dione rat snake (Elaphe dione) PALLAS 1773
- Japanese four-lined rat snake (Elaphe quadrivirgataJapanese striped snakeElaphe quadrivirgata, the Japanese Four-lined Ratsnake, or Japanese Striped Snake is a non-venomous snake native to Japan. It is found in all areas of the country apart from the Ryukyu Islands. It typically grows to a length of 1-1.5 meters...
) BOIE 1826 - Four-lined snake (Elaphe quatuorlineataElaphe quatuorlineataElaphe quatuorlineata or the Four-lined Snake is Europe's largest non-venomous colubrid species.-Geographic range:It can be found in southern Europe, mostly in Italy and the Balkans from Croatia to Greece.-Description:...
) LACEPEDE 1789 - Red-backed rat snake (Elaphe rufodorsata) CANTOR 1842
- Eastern four-lined snake (Elaphe sauromates) PALLAS 1811
- Russian rat snake (Elaphe schrenckiiElaphe schrenckiiThe Manchurian Black Water Snake, Amur rat snake, Korean rat snake, Russian rat snake, or Siberian rat snake exists in two varieties, black and yellow. It is found in Korea and adjacent portions of China and Russia...
) STRAUCH 1873 - Japanese forest rat snake (Euprepiophis conspicillatus)
- Mandarin rat snake (Euprepiophis mandarinus)
- Celebes black-tailed rat snake (Gonyosoma jansenii) BLEEKER 1858
- Red-tailed green rat snake (Gonyosoma oxycephalumGonyosoma oxycephalumThe Red-tailed Green Ratsnake is a species of snake found in Southeast Asia. It is a thin snake with powerful and rough scales on its belly, ideal for climbing and moving in trees...
) BOIE 1827 - Mountain rat snake (Oreocryptophis porphyracea) CANTOR 1839
- Cantor's rat snake (Orthriophis cantoris) BOULENGER 1894
- Hodgson's rat snake (Orthriophis hodgsoni) GÜNTHER 1860
- 100 Flower rat snake (Orthriophis moellendorffi) BOETTGER 1886
- Beauty Snake (Orthriophis taeniurus) COPE 1861
- Keeled rat snake (Ptyas carinata) GÜNTHER 1858
- (Ptyas dhumnades) CANTOR 1842
- Sulawesi black racer (Ptyas dipsas) SCHLEGEL 1837
- White-bellied rat snake(Ptyas fusca) GÜNTHER 1858
- Chinese rat snake (Ptyas korrosPtyas korrosChinese Ratsnake or Indo-Chinese Rat Snake is a species of snake found in Southeast Asia.-Description:Snout obtuse, projecting; eye very large...
) SCHLEGEL 1837 - (Ptyas luzonensis) GÜNTHER 1873
- Oriental rat snake (Ptyas mucosusPtyas mucosusDhaman or Oriental Ratsnake Ptyas mucosus is a common species of colubrid snake found in parts of South and Southeast Asia. Growing to nearly two metres, they are large snakes and their colour varies from pale browns in dry regions to nearly black in moist forest areas...
) LINNAEUS 1758 - Green rat snake (Ptyas nigromarginatusPtyas nigromarginatusGreen Rat Snake Ptyas nigromarginatus is a species of snake.Distribution:Nepal, India ,N Myanmar , N Vietnam ?China -External links:...
) BLYTH 1854 - Green trinket snake (Rhadinophis frenatum) GRAY 1853
- Green bush snake (Rhadinophis prasina) BLYTH 1854
- Rhinoceros RatsnakeRhinoceros RatsnakeRhinoceros Ratsnake also known as Rhinoceros Snake, Rhino Rat Snake, Vietnamese Longnose Snake, Green Unicorn, found from Northern Vietnam to Southern China, has a prominent, distinctive, scaled protrusion on the front of its snout which has led to its common naming after mythical unicorns and...
(Rhynchophis boulengeri) MOCQUARD 1897 - Transcaucasian rat snake (Zamenis hohenackeri) STRAUCH 1873
- Italian Aesculapian snake (Zamenis lineatus) CAMERANO 1891
- Aesculapian snake (Zamenis longissimus) LAURENTI 1768
- Persian rat snake (Zamenis persicus) WERNER 1913
- Leopard snake (Zamenis situla) LINNAEUS 1758
New World
- Baja California rat snake (Bogertophis rosaliae) MOCQUARD 1899
- Trans Pecos rat snake (Bogertophis subocularisBogertophis subocularisThe Trans-Pecos rat snake is a medium to large , nonvenomous rat snake native to the Chihuahuan Desert, that extends northward into Texas. It has a row of small scales between the lower border of the eye and the upper labials. This is a beautiful snake, yellow to tan dorsally with a series of...
) BROWN 1901 - Eastern rat snake (Elaphe alleghaniensis) HOLBROOK 1836
- Baird's rat snake (Elaphe bairdi) YARROW 1880
- Great Plains rat snake (Elaphe emoryi) BAIRD & GIRARD 1853
- Eastern fox snake (Elaphe gloydi) CONANT 1940
- Corn snake (Elaphe guttata) LINNAEUS 1766
- Western rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta) SAY 1823
- Central rat snake (Elaphe spiloides) DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854
- Western foxsnake (Elaphe vulpina) BAIRD & GIRARD 1853
- Mexican nightsnake (Pseudelaphe flavirufus) COPE 1867
- Green rat snake (Senticolis triaspisSenticolis triaspisSenticolis triaspis, also known as green rat snake, is a long , green or olive green snake with the light yellow ventral side. They usually inhabit evergreen forests and grassland. They are well distributed in the Baboquivari, Pajarito, Atascosa, Santa Rita, Empire, Patagonia, Chiricahua,...
) COPE 1866
Taxonomy
In recent years there has been some taxonomic controversy over the genus of North American rat snakes. Based on mitochondrial DNA, Utiger et al. (2002) showed that North American Rat Snakes of the genus Elaphe along with closely related genera such as Pituophis and Lampropeltis form a monophyletic group separate from Old World members of the genus. They therefore suggested the resurrection of the available name Pantherophis Fitzinger for all North American taxa (north of Mexico).All published taxonomy remains a taxonomic suggestion until ruled on by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN - http://www.iczn.org/), but the body has so far not supported the change and has not addressed the taxonomic suggestion, thus the official taxonomy remains Elaphe.
Crother et al. (2003) rejected the taxonomic change to Pantherophis, preferring to retain the current concept of Elaphe and the spelling obsoleta.
Rat snakes in captivity
Rat snakes are commonly kept as pets by reptile enthusiasts. The corn snakeCorn Snake
The Corn Snake , or Red Rat Snake, is a North American species of Rat Snake that subdues its small prey by constriction. The name "Corn Snake" is a holdover from the days when southern farmers stored harvested ears of corn in a wood frame or log building called a crib...
is one of the most popular pet reptiles, and belongs to the rat snake family. New world species are generally thought to be more docile in captivity as opposed to old world rat snakes, of which the opposite is assumed.