Pantherophis obsoletus

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Colubroidea
Superregnum: Eukaryota Cladus: Podiata Cladus: Amorphea Cladus: Obazoa Cladus: Opisthokonta Cladus: Holozoa Cladus: Filozoa Cladus: Choanozoa Regnum: Animalia Subregnum: Eumetazoa Cladus: ParaHoxozoa Cladus: Bilateria Cladus: Nephrozoa Superphylum: Deuterostomia Phylum: Chordata Cladus: Olfactores Subphylum: Vertebrata Infraphylum: Gnathostomata Cladus: Eugnathostomata Cladus: Osteichthyes Cladus: Sarcopterygii Cladus: Rhipidistia Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes Cladus: Elpistostegalia Cladus: Stegocephali Cladus: Tetrapoda Cladus: Reptiliomorpha Cladus: Amniota Cladus: Sauropsida Classis: Reptilia Cladus: Eureptilia Cladus: Romeriida Cladus: Diapsida Cladus: Neoreptilia Cladus: Parapleurota Cladus: Neodiapsida Cladus: Sauria Cladus: Lepidosauromorpha Superordo: Lepidosauria Ordo: Squamata Cladus: Toxicofera Subordo: Serpentes Cladus: Caenophidia Superfamilia: Colubroidea

Pantherophis obsoletus (Say, 1823)

Syntypes (n=3): ANSP, collected by T. Say between 29 August–26 September 1819. [lost fide Dowling (1952b: 4)]
Type locality: “the Missouri from the vicinity of Isle au Vache to Council Bluff”.

Coluber obsoletus Say, 1823: 140 [original combination]
Elaphis obsoletus — Garman, 1883 [subsequent combination]
Elaphe obsoleta — Stejneger & Barbour, 1917 [subsequent combination]
Pantherophis obsoletus — Utiger, Helfenberger, Schätti, Schmidt, Ruf & Ziswiler, 2002: 119 [subsequent combination]
Scotophis obsoletus — Collins & Taggart, 2008 [subsequent combination]

Say, T. 1823: In James, E. Account of an expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819, '20, by order of the Hon. J. C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, under the command of Major Stephen H. Long. Vol. 1. Philadelphia, H. C. Carey & I. Lea.
Baird, S.F. & Girard, C. 1853. Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part 1.–Serpents. Smithsonian Institution: Washington. xvi + 172 pp. BHL Reference page.
Utiger, U., Helfenberger, N., Schätti, B., Schmidt, C., Ruf, M. & Ziswiler, V. 2002. Molecular Systematics and Phylogeny of Old and New World Ratsnakes, Elaphe Auct., and Related Genera (Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae). Russian Journal of Herpetology 9(2): 105–124. DOI: 10.30906/1026-2296-2002-9-2-105-124 [nonfunctional] Reference page.

Burbrink, F.T., Lawson, R. & Slowinski, J.B. 2000. Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of the polytypic North American rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta): A critique of the subspecies concept. Evolution 54(6): 2107–2118. DOI: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2000.tb01253.x ; JSTOR Reference page.
Hillis, D.M. & Wüster, W. 2021. Taxonomy and Nomenclature of the Pantherophis obsoletus Complex. Herpetological Review 52(1): 51–52. Reference page.
Burbrink, F.T., Gehara, M., McKelvy, A.D. & Myers, E.A. 2021. 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. DOI: 10.1111/evo.14141 Reference page.
Burbrink, F.T., Pyron, R.A., Gehara, M., McKelvy, A.D. & Myers, E.A. 2021. The corrected taxonomic history of the North American ratsnakes (Pantherophis obsoletus complex). Herpetological Review 52(3): 537–547. Reference page.

Hammerson, G.A. 2019. IUCN: Pantherophis obsoletus (Least Concern). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T90069553A90069569. DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T90069553A90069569.en. Accessed on 17 November 2025.