Pantherophis


Pantherophis is a genus of nonvenomous colubrid snakes endemic to North America and Central America, commonly called rat snakes, fox snakes, and corn snakes. All are powerful constrictors and help control rodent populations. Some taxonomic classification systems have accepted the proposed classification, while others have not.
Although Pantherophis was originally proposed in 1843, in more recent history, these species were placed in the genus Elaphe. In 2002, Utiger et al. raised a taxonomic suggestion to resurrect the genus Pantherophis based on mitochondrial DNA evidence suggesting the New World rat snakes are more closely related to king snakes than to the Old World rat snakes. This was confirmed by later phylogenetic studies.
However, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature rejected the renaming, thus Elaphe remains the more widely recognized and broadly accepted genus name. The ITIS now identifies all species names that use Pantherophis as "valid" names – no longer using Elaphe.

Species

These species are included:
ImageScientific nameCommon nameGeographic range
Pantherophis alleghaniensis Eastern rat snakeUnited States east of the Apalachicola River in Florida, east of the Chattahoochee River in Georgia, east of the Appalachian Mountains, north to southeastern New York and western Vermont, eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, south to the Florida Keys
Pantherophis bairdi Baird's rat snakeSouthwestern United States and adjacent northeastern Mexico.
Pantherophis emoryi Great Plains rat snakeUnited States, from Missouri to Nebraska, to Colorado, south to Texas, and into northern Mexico
Pantherophis gloydi Eastern fox snakeEastern Great Lakes region of the United States, as well as adjacent western Ontario in Canada.
Pantherophis guttatus Corn snakeSoutheastern and central United States.
Pantherophis obsoletus Western rat snake or Texas ratsnakeWest of the Mississippi River, from eastern and southern Iowa southward through Missouri and Arkansas to western Louisiana, westward to eastern Texas, northward through Oklahoma and eastern Kansas to southeastern Nebraska.
Pantherophis ramspotti Crother, White, Savage, Eckstut, Graham & Gardner, 2011Western fox snakeUnited States, west of the Mississippi River
Pantherophis slowinskii Slowinski's corn snakeLouisiana, eastern Texas, and Arkansas
Pantherophis spiloides Gray rat snake or central rat snakeEastern and Central United States, west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of the Mississippi River
Pantherophis vulpinus Eastern fox snakeUpper Midwestern United States, east of the Mississippi River

Fitzinger designated P. guttatus as the type species for the genus Pantherophis.

Taxonomy

In recent years, some taxonomic controversy arose over the genus of North American rat snakes. Based on mitochondrial DNA, Utiger et al. showed 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.
The reception to the proposed reclassification has been mixed. In 2008, the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles accepted the taxonomic change to Pantherophis. NatureServe and GBIF use Pantherophis names. ITIS also now identifies all species names that use Pantherophis as "valid" names. CITES recognizes Elaphe and does not recognize Pantherophis.