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Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Colubridae  

Speckled Kingsnake
Lampropeltis holbrooki Stejneger, 1902

Current SSAR Comments:
See comments under L. getula. The date of publication was corrected to 1860 (see Nolan, 1913, Index to the Scientific Contents of the Journal and Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia: xii).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.09.21.41.45)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.26 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
King Snake (Ophibolus getulus var. sayi: Jordan, David Starr. 1876. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Jansen, McClurg, and Company, Chicago, Illinois.. 342pp.); Chain Snake (Ophibolus getulus: Jordan, David S. 1878. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Second Edition, Revised, and Enlarged. Jansen, McClurg & Company, Chicago. pp.); Thunder Snake (Ophibolus getulus: Jordan, David S. 1878. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Second Edition, Revised, and Enlarged. Jansen, McClurg & Company, Chicago. pp.); King Snake (Ophibolus getulus var. sayi: Jordan, David S. 1878. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Second Edition, Revised, and Enlarged. Jansen, McClurg & Company, Chicago. pp.); Say's King Snake (Ophibolus getulus sayi: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Chain Snake (Ophibolus getulus sayi: Rhoads, Samuel N. 1895. Contributions to the zoology of Tennessee. No. 1, Reptiles and amphibians. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 47():376-407); King Snake (Lampropeltis sayi: Beyer, George. 1900. Louisana herpetology. Proceedings of the Louisiana Society of Naturalists 1897-1899():24-46); Guinea Snake (Ophibolus gentulus sayi: Branson, Edwin B. 1904. Snakes of Kansas. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 2(13):353-430); Chicken Snake (Ophibolus gentulus sayi: Branson, Edwin B. 1904. Snakes of Kansas. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 2(13):353-430); Say's King Snake (Ophibolus gentulus sayi: Branson, Edwin B. 1904. Snakes of Kansas. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 2(13):353-430); Salt and Pepper Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Salt-and-Pepper King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Taylor, Edward H. 1929. A revised checklist of the snakes of Kansas. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 19(5):53-62); Speckled King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Schmidt, Karl Peterson and D. D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. C.P. Putnam and Sons, New York. 365pp.); Yellow Spotted King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Spotted King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Chicken Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Western King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Salt and Pepper King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Egg Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Say's King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Speckled King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Yellow Speckled King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Southern King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Dotted Black Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Milk Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Black Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Yellow Spotted Black Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Yellow Spotted Black Dotted Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Speckled Adder (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Southern King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Holbrook King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Pertinent LIterature:
1903 Stejneger, Leonhard. The reptiles of the Huachuca Mountains, Arizona. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 25():149-158
1913 Nolan, Edward J. An index to the scientific contents of the Journal and Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia [1817-1910] Published in commemoration of the centenary of the academy, March 21, 1912. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1415pp.
1920 Blanchard, Frank N. A synopsis of the king snakes: Genus Lampropeltis Fitzinger. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (87):1-7
1971 Blaney, Richard M. Systematics of the Common Kingsnake, Lampropeltis getulus (Linnaeus) Dissertation. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Baton Rouge. 137pp.
1977 Blaney, Richard M. Systematics of the common kingsnake, Lampropeltis getulus (Linnaeus). Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany 19(3-4):47-103
1994 Crombie, Ronald I. Herpetological publications of the National Museum of Natural History (USNM). 1853-1994. Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service (101):40
2009 Pyron, R. Alexander. Systematics and Historical Biogeography of the Lampropeltinine Snakes (Serpentes: Colubridae. Dissertation. City University of New York, College of Staten Island, New York. 135pp.
2009 Pyron, R. Alexander and Frank T. Burbrink. Lineage diversification in a widespread species: Roles for niche divergence and conservatism in the Common Kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula. Molecular Ecology 18(16):3443-3457
2009 Pyron, R. Alexander and Frank T. Burbrink. Neogene diversification and taxonomic stability in the snake tribe Lampropeltini (Serpentes: Colubridae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52(2):524-529
2009 Pyron, R. Alexander and Frank T. Burbrink. Systematics of the Common Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula; Serpentes: Colubridae) and the burden of heritage in taxonomy Zootaxa 2241(1):23-32

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Thursday 30 January 2025 02:03 CT