Texas rat snake

Texas rat snake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Pantherophis
Species:
P. obsoletus
Subspecies:
P. o. lindheimeri
Trinomial name
Pantherophis obsoletus lindheimeri
(Baird & Girard, 1853)
Synonyms
  • Scotophis lindheimerii
    Baird & Girard, 1853

The Texas rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus lindheimeri) is a subspecies of the black rat snake, a nonvenomous colubrid. It is found in the United States, primarily within the state of Texas, but its range extends into Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma.[1] It intergrades with other subspecies of Elaphe obsoleta, so exact range boundaries are impossible to distinguish.[2] The epithet lindheimeri is to honor the German-American naturalist Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer, who collected the first specimen in New Braunfels, Texas.[3]

  1. ^ "Hibbits, Troy, "Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri (Texas Rat Snake)," Kingsnake.com (accessed May 7, 2010).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference herps was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Pantherophis obsoletus lindheimeri, p. 158).