THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Colubridae  

Baird's Ratsnake
Pantherophis bairdi (Yarrow in Cope, 1880)

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 See comment under P. obsoletus.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.11.15.09.32.29)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.15 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Texas

First instance(s) of published English names:
Baird's Coluber (Coluber bairdi: 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); Baird's Rat Snake (Elaphe bairdi: 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.);

Taxon Links:

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

Selected References:
1880 Cope, Edward D. On the zoological position of Texas. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (17):151
1990 Lawson, Robin, and Carl S. Lieb. Variation and hybridization in Elaphe bairdi (Serpentes: Colubridae). Journal of Herpetology 24(3):280-292
2000 Burbrink, Frank T. Systematics of the polymorphic North American rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta). Dissertation. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. 202pp.
2000 Burbrink, Frank T., Robin Lawson, and Joseph B. Slowinski. Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of the polytypic North American Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta): A critique of the subspecies concept. Evolution 54:2107-2118
2001 Burbrink, Frank T. Systematics of the Eastern Rat Snake complex (Elaphe obsoleta). Herpetological Monographs 15:1-53
2007 Burbrink, Frank T. and Robin Lawson. How and when did Old World ratsnakes disperse into the New World? Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43:173-189
2008 Collins, Joseph T. and Travis W. Taggart. An alternative classification of the New World rat snakes (genus Pantherophis [Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae]). Journal of Kansas Herpetology (26):16-18
2020 Burbrink, Frank T. Marcelo Gehara, Alexander D. McKelvy, and Edward A. Myers. Resolving spatial complexities of hybridization in the context of the gray zone of speciation in North American ratsnakes (Pantherophis obsoletus complex) Evolution 75(2):260–277
2021 Hillis, David and Wolfgang Wuster. Taxonomy and nomenclature of the Pantherophis obsoletus complex. Herpetological Review 52(1):51–52
2021 Burbrink, Frank T., R. Alexander Pyron, Marcelo Gehara, Alexander D. McKelvy, and Edward A. Myers. The corrected taxonomic history of the North American Ratsnakes (Pantherophis obsoletus Complex), Herpetological Review 53(3):537-547
2022 Hillis, David M. Species, clades, and their relationship to paraphyly and monophyly: Examples from the Pantherophis obsoletus complex. Herpetological Review 53(1):47-53
2023 Burbrink, Frank T., Sean M. Harrington, Dean Bobo, and Edward A. Myers. Considering admixture when producing draft genomes: an example in North American ratsnakes (Pantherophis alleghaniensis/Pantherophis obsoletus) G3 Genes Genomes Genetics 13(10):1-8

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Saturday 26 April 2025 23:33 CT