Pantherophis bairdi

Pantherophis bairdi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Pantherophis
Species:	P. bairdi
Binomial name
Pantherophis bairdi (Yarrow, 1880)
Synonyms
Coluber bairdi Yarrow, 1880 Elaphe obsoleta bairdi Dowling, 1952 Elaphe bairdi (Yarrow, 1880)

Common names: Baird's rat snake, Baird's ratsnake,^[1] Baird's pilot snake,^[2] more.

Pantherophis bairdi is a harmless colubrid species found in the United States in the Big Bend region of western Texas, as well as in northern Mexico in Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. The species was named in honor of the American zoologist Spencer Fullerton Baird. No subspecies are currently recognized.^[1]

Description

Adults can reach 25 to 55 inches in length. The color pattern consists of an orange-yellow to bright yellow, or a darker salmon ground color, overlaid with four stripes that run from the neck to the tail. The belly is generally gray to yellow, darkening near the tail.

The primary diet consists of rodents, although they will also prey on birds. Juveniles often eat lizards. They are typically more pleasantly tempered than other rat snake species. They are oviparous, laying a clutch of up to 10 eggs that takes about 3 months to hatch. Prefers semi-arid, rocky habitats.

Common names

Baird's rat snake, Baird's ratsnake,^[1] Baird's pilot snake, Baird's Coluber, Great Bend rat snake.^[2]

Taxonomy

Pantherophis bairdi has sometimes been considered a subspecies of Pantherophis obsoletus, to which it is closely related.

This species has often been placed in the genus Elaphe, but recent phylogenetic analyses have resulted in its transfer to Pantherophis^[3][4][5].

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Elaphe bairdi". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174179. Retrieved 29 November 2008. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. 2 volumes. Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. ISBN 0-8014-0463-0.
3. ^ Utiger, U., N. Helfenberger, B. Schätti, C. Schmidt, M. Ruf, and V. Ziswiler, 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.
4. ^ Burbrink, F. T. and R. Lawson, 2007. How and when did Old World ratsnakes disperse into the New World? Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43: 173-189.
5. ^ Pyron, R. A. and F. T. Burbrink, 2009. Neogene diversification and taxonomic stability in the snake tribe Lampropeltini (Serpentes: Colubridae) Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52: 524-529.

External links

• Pantherophis bairdi at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 29 November 2008.
• Elaphe bairdi at Herps of Texas. Accessed 29 November 2008.
• Elaphe bairdi at Bowling Green State University Herp Lab. Accessed 29 November 2008.