Subphylum Vertebrata Lifespan Corn snake: 6 – 8 years Length Corn snake: 1.2 – 1.8 m | Phylum Chordata Class Reptilia Suborder Serpentes Mass Corn snake: 900 g Clutch size Corn snake: 12 – 24 | |
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Representative species | ||
Texas rat snake facts bravest snake in america
Rat snakes (or ratsnakes) are members – along with kingsnakes, milk snakes, vine snakes and indigo snakes – of the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. They are medium to large constrictors and are found throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. They feed primarily on rodents and birds. With some species exceeding 3 m (10 ft) in total length, they can occupy top levels of some food chains. Many species make attractive and docile pets and one, the corn snake, is one of the most popular reptile pets in the world. Other species can be very skittish and sometimes aggressive, but bites are rarely serious. Like nearly all colubrids, rat snakes pose no threat to humans. Rat snakes were long thought to be completely nonvenomous, but recent studies have shown that some Old World species do possess small amounts of venom, though the amount is negligible relative to humans.
Contents
- Texas rat snake facts bravest snake in america
- Rat snake collection update 5 30 12 full
- Old World rat snakes
- New World rat snakes
- Taxonomy
- In captivity
- References
Previously, most rat snakes were assigned to the genus Elaphe, but many have been since renamed following mitochondrial DNA analysis performed in 2002. For the purpose of this article, names will be harmonized with the TIGR Database.
Rat snake collection update 5 30 12 full
Old World rat snakes
Coelognathus spp
Elaphe spp
Euprepiophis spp
Gonyosoma spp
Oreocryptophis spp
Orthriophis spp
Ptyas spp
Rhadinophis spp
Rhynchophis spp
Zamenis spp
New World rat snakes
Bogertophis spp
Pantherophis spp
Pseudelaphe spp
Senticolis spp
Spilotes spp
Nota bene: In the above species lists, an authority's name in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a different genus. An authority's name not in parentheses indicates that the species is still assigned to the original genus in which it was described.
Taxonomy
In recent years, some taxonomic controversy has occurred over the genus of North American rat snakes. Based on mitochondrial DNA, Utiger et al. (2002) showed that 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 (north of Mexico). Crother et al. (2008) accepted the taxonomic change to Pantherophis.
In captivity
Rat snakes are commonly kept as pets by reptile enthusiasts. The corn snake, one of the most popular pet reptiles, is a rat snake. New World species are generally thought to be more docile in captivity as opposed to Old World rat snakes, of which the opposite is assumed.