THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY


Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Colubridae  

Yellow Ratsnake
Pantherophis quadrivittatus (Holbrook, 1836)

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: 2023.04.25.10.11.14)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.11 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Racer (Coluber alleghaniensis: De Kay, James E. 1842. Zoology of New-York, or, The New-York Fauna: Comprising Detailed Descriptions of All the Animals Hitherto Observed within the State of New-York, with Brief Notices of those Occasionally Found Near its Borders, and Accompanied by Appropriate Illustrations. Volume 1, Part 3 (Reptiles and Amphibians). W. & A. White & J. Visscher, Albany, New York. pp.); Pilot (Coluber alleghaniensis: De Kay, James E. 1842. Zoology of New-York, or, The New-York Fauna: Comprising Detailed Descriptions of All the Animals Hitherto Observed within the State of New-York, with Brief Notices of those Occasionally Found Near its Borders, and Accompanied by Appropriate Illustrations. Volume 1, Part 3 (Reptiles and Amphibians). W. & A. White & J. Visscher, Albany, New York. pp.); Pilot Black-snake (Coluber alleghaniensis: De Kay, James E. 1842. Zoology of New-York, or, The New-York Fauna: Comprising Detailed Descriptions of All the Animals Hitherto Observed within the State of New-York, with Brief Notices of those Occasionally Found Near its Borders, and Accompanied by Appropriate Illustrations. Volume 1, Part 3 (Reptiles and Amphibians). W. & A. White & J. Visscher, Albany, New York. pp.); Mountain Blacksnake (Scotophis alleghaniensis: Baird, Spencer F. 1854. Serpents of New-York; With a Notice of a Species not Hitherto Included in the Fauna of the State. C. Van Benthuysen, Albany, New York. pp.); Pilot Black Snake (Elaphis alleghaniensis: Allen, J. A. 1869. Catalogue of the reptiles and batrachians found in the vicinity of Springfield, Mass., with notices of all the other species known to inhabit the state. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural Hisotry 12(1868-1869):171-204); Pilot Snake (Coluber obsoletus: 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.); Racer (Coluber obsoletus: 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.); Chicken-snake (Coluber quadrivittatus: Coues, Elliott and Henry C. Yarrow. 1878. Notes on the natural history of Fort Macon, N. C. and Vicinity (No. 4). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 30():21-28); Chicken Snake (Coluber quadrivittatus: 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); Four-lined Snake (Coluber quadrivittatus: 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); Pilot Snake (Coluber obsoletus obsoletus: Davis, N. S. Jr. and Frank L. Rice. 1883. Descriptive catalogue of North American batrachia and reptilia, found east of Mississippi River. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 1(5):71); Spotted Mountain Black Snake (Coluber obsoletus confinis: Brown, Arthur, E. 1902. Report of the Board of Directors. Pages 5-22 in Thirtieth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia. Allen, Lane, and Scott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. pp.); Pilot Black Snake (Coluber obsoletus: Drowne, Frederick P. 1905. The reptiles and batrachians of Rhode Island. Monograph of the Roger Williams Park Museum 15():1-24); Pilot Black Snake (Elaphe obsoletus: Fowler, Henry W. 1907. The amphibians and reptiles of New Jersey. MacCrellish and Quigley, Trenton, N. J.. 29-250pp.); Pilot Snake (Elaphe obsoletus: Fowler, Henry W. 1907. The amphibians and reptiles of New Jersey. MacCrellish and Quigley, Trenton, N. J.. 29-250pp.); Black Chicken Snake (Coluber obsoletus: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Stripped Chicken Snake (Coluber quadrivittatus: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Pilot Blacksnake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta: Stejneger, Leonhard H. and Thomas Barbour. 1917. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp.); Chicken-snake (Elaphe quadrivittata: Stejneger, Leonhard H. and Thomas Barbour. 1917. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp.); Pilot Black Snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta: 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.); Deckert's Chicken Snake (Elaphe quadrivittata deckerti: 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.); Chicken Snake (Elaphe quadrivittata guadrivittata: 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.); Four-lined Chicken Snake (Elaphe quadrivittata quadrivittata: 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.); West Florida Chicken Snake (Elaphe williamsi: 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.); Chicken Snake (Elaphe obsoleta: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Black Chicken Snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Pilot Black Snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Four-lined Chicken Snake (Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittata: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

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

Selected References:
1836 Holbrook, John E. North American Herpetology; or, a Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. Volume 1. J. Dobson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 120pp.
1972 Baker, Robert J., George A. Mengden, and James J. Bull. Karyotypic studies of thirty-eight species of North American snakes . Copeia 1972(2):257-265
1996 Dundee, Harold A. Some reallocations of type localities of reptiles and amphibians described from the Major Stephen H. Long Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, with comments on some of the statements made in the account written by Edwin James.  Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany 30:75–89
1997 Prior, Kent A. Conservation biology of Black Rat Snakes: Ecological, demographic, and genetic approaches. Dissertation. Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario. 211pp.
1999 Lougheed, Stephen C., H. Lisle Gibbs, Kent A. Prior, and Patrick J. Weatherhead. Hierarchical patterns of genetic population structure in Black Rat Snakes (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta) as revealed by microsatellite DNA analysis. Evolution 53(6):1995-2001
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
2006 Soltis, Douglas E., Ashley B. Morris, Jason S. McLachlan, Paul S. Manos, and Pamela S. Soltis. Comparative phylogeography of unglaciated eastern North America. Molecular Ecology 15(14):4261–4293
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 Hillis, David M. The detection and naming of geographic variation within species. Herpetological Review 51(1):52-56
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
2024 Burbrink, Frank T., Edward A. Myers, R. Alexander Pyron. Understanding species limits through the formation of phylogeographic lineages. Ecology and Evolution 14(10):1-18

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Saturday 26 April 2025 23:45 CT