Heres some ratsnake trivia

[telefrag]

way back when before most our times latin names on colubrids were very cyptic and species were often lumped into genus in which they didnt belong, or they were given temporary assignments until further work could be done.

The following are some well known ratsnakes, and the names they had wayyyyyy back when.
see if any of you can guess which ones correlate to todays Pantherophis and Elaphe.
Some are pretty easy, others may be a bit harder
I have included years to help you googlers out a bit.

Elaphe confinis (1911)
Scotophis quadrivittatus (1853)
Coluber rosaceus (188
Scotophis calligaster (1859)
Coluber guttatus (1766)
Natrix flavirufus (1887)
Scotophis vulpinus (1853)
Coluber pantherinus (1803)
Coluber compressus (179

A HINT!
4 of them are today known as the same snake.

ENJOY!

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[trinitywolf]

Because I am a googler [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img] I just picked one and am going to take a stab at it.

Natrix flavirufus is now Elaphe flavirufa or the Tropical Rat Snake? Just a shot in the dark on a 30 second google search. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

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[telefrag]

Ted 1
rest of RH netters 0!!!!!

c'mon people give it a shot.
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[Bry]

Okay, I'm somewhat familiar with current latin names, and some of them kind of stand out. I'm just taking stabs in the dark here.

Scotophis quadrivittatus - isn't this the Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittatus or the Yellow Ratsnake?
Coluber guttatus and Coluber rosaceus - Elaphe guttata guttata or the Red Ratsnake/Corn Snake (in the species name, 'rosa' sounds like a reference to the reddish color that corn snakes have)
Coluber pantherinus - Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta or the Black Ratsnake (the species name makes me think maybe the name was derived from the black panther, hence, the black ratsnake)
Scotophis vulpinus - Elaphe vulpina or fox snake

Bry

_________________
Happiness is like peeing your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel its warmth.

	Corn Snake The Corn Snake or Red Rat Snake (Elaphe guttata) is a species of Rat Snake.

[Bry]

While we're on the subject of ratsnake latin names, I've wondered what's the significance of giving certain ratsnakes the name 'obsoleta'. Is there something that makes them obsolete?

Bry
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[morti]

Bry, in Biology, the defination of "Obsolete" can mean "Vestigial or imperfectly developed, especially in comparison with other individuals or related species; not clearly marked or seen; indistinct. Used of an organ or other part of an animal or plant." (source: Dictionary.com). I think that in the case of Elaphe Obsoleta, it is refering to the pattern on most black ratsnakes as "Not clearly marked or seen". Of couse I could be wrong. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

-Morti

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[Bry]

Spank you, uncle morti. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] Since you put it that way, maybe it's some kind of reference to how pattern and/or coloring tends to change with age in most of the obsoletas.

Bry
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[morti]

Latin is like a puzzle... and I always seem to have too many middle bits and not enough corners.
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