? Black Rat Snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Family: Colubridae Genus: Elaphe Species: E. obsoleta Subspecies: E. o. obsoleta
Trinomial name
Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta Say in James, 1923

A Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta) is a species of rat snake. The snake prefers heavily wooded areas and they are known for having excellent climbing ability, including the ability to climb the trunk of large mature trees without the aid of branches. Image File history File links Elaphe_obsoleta_fg01. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicatas Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Orders See text. ... Suborders Amphisbaenia - Worm lizards Sauria- Lizards Serpentes - Snakes Squamata (scaled reptiles) is the largest recent order of reptiles, including lizards and snakes. ... Genera According to ITIS: Adelophis Adelphicos Alsophis Amastridium Arizona Arrhyton Atractus Bogertophis Boiga Carphophis Cemophora Cerberus Chersodromus Chilomeniscus Chionactis Clelia Clonophis Coluber Coniophanes Conophis Conopsis Contia Cryophis Dendrelaphis Dendrophidion Diadophis Dipsas Dryadophis Drymarchon Drymobius Elaphe Enulius Eridiphas Erythrolamprus Farancia Ficimia Geagras Geophis Gyalopion Heterodon Hypsiglena Imantodes Lampropeltis Leptodeira Leptophis Liochlorophis... Rat snakes are a large, polyphyletic, group of snakes from the Colubrid subfamily Colubrinae. ... Trinomial nomenclature is a taxonomic naming system that extends the standard system of binomial nomenclature by adding a third taxon. ... Thomas Say. ... In biology, a species is the basic unit of biodiversity. ... Rat snakes are a type of snake that are members of the Elaphe, Bogertophis, or Senticoli genera. ...

The Black Rat Snake is a constrictor, meaning it suffocates its prey, coiling around small animals and tightening its grip until they can no longer draw breath, before eating them. (The process of constriction.) Though they do consume mice and rats, the Black Rat Snakes also willingly consume chipmunks, squirrels, birds, and bird eggs. In captivity, they have a reputation for being "vacuum cleaners," and will eat almost anything placed in front of them. Constrictor was the 1986 effort of Alice Cooper. ... Prey can refer to: Look up Prey in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A prey animal eaten by a predator in an act called predation. ... Constriction is a method used by various snake species to kill its prey. ...

Black rat snakes are quite large and are known to reach up to eight (8) feet, being the largest snake found in Canada. The record length for a Black Rat Snake is 101 inches, making it (officially) the largest snake in North America. Unofficially, Indigo Snakes are known to exceed them, and one wild caught Pine Snake with a portion of its tail missing measured 111 inches. World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... The Indigo snake is the largest colubrid in the United States. ...

When spotted by humans, Black Rat Snakes may freeze and wrinkle themselves into a series of kinks. Black Rat Snakes are usually non-aggressive, but will often strike at the hand of anyone who tries to capture them. They are non-venomous, but can inflict a fairly painful bite.

Photo gallery

Black Rat Snake, face Download high resolution version (821x302, 99 KB)This is a picture I took of a Black Rat Snake that was found in Virginia (USA) near the Chesapeak bay at the beginning of summer 2004. ... Image File history File links Taken in a South Carolina backyard, July 14th, 2005 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Black Rat Snake kinking, or "crinkling" while stressed. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

ventral surface Image File history File linksMetadata Pantherophis_obsoletusPCCA20050508-7264B.jpg Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Black Rat Snake Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or...

Taxonomic issues

There are recent proposed, but not universally accepted, taxonomic changes for this species and the other North American members of Elaphe. Some place North American rat snakes in genus Pantherophis. Under this classification the name of the Black Rat Snake and related subspecies would then be Pantherophis obsoletus. In addition, some taxonomists have suggested splitting what is now Elaphe obsoleta into three geographically separate species: Rat snakes are a type of snake that are members of the Elaphe, Bogertophis, or Senticoli genera. ...

• Elaphe alleghaniensis (Pantherophis alleghaniensis), Eastern Rat Snake. Range: east of Allegheny Mountains
• Elaphe spiloides (Pantherophis aspiloides), Midland Rat Snake. Range: west of Apalachicola River and east of the Mississippi River
• Elaphe obsoleta (Pantherophis obsoletus), Western Rat Snake. Range: west of the Mississippi River

Under this scheme, the color variations (Black Rat Snake, Yellow Rat Snake, Grey Rat Snake) do not correspond to subspecies. The color phases are considered to be a clinal variation in pigmentation with latitude or other climatic factors. The Allegheny Mountains are a part of the Appalachian mountain range of the eastern United States. ... View of the Apalachicola River near Fort Gadsden, Florida. ... The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning great river (gichi-ziibi big river at its headwaters), is the second-longest river in the United States; the longest is the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi. ... The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning great river (gichi-ziibi big river at its headwaters), is the second-longest river in the United States; the longest is the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi. ... Trinomial name Elaphe obsoleta spiloides A Grey Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta spiloides) is a species of rat snake. ... In population genetics, a cline is a gradual change of a character or feature (phenotype) in a species over a geographical area. ...

These references discuss some of the taxonomic issues.

• ITIS--listed as Elaphe obsoleta
• Center for North American Herpetology--discusses taxonomy
• Herpetological Review
• The Texas Rat Snake--from The Cold Blooded News, Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological Society. This discusses the three proposed species split from E. obsoleta in detail.
• Flickr discussion on Rat Snake taxonomy--accessed April 22, 2006.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Pantherophis obsoletus