NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Elaphe climacophora (Boie, 1826)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Japanese rat snake (Elaphe climacophora) is a medium-sized colubrid snake found throughout the Japanese archipelago (except the far South West) as well as on the Russian-administered Kunashir Island. In Japanese it is known as the aodaishō or "blue general". It is non-venomous and is hunted by eagles and tanukis.
The snakes brumate for three to four months, mate in spring and lay 7–20 eggs in early summer.
Wikipedia contributors, Japanese rat snake; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T14:26:52.438971+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Elaphe climacophora (Boie, 1826)
- Name authority
- (Boie, 1826)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Elaphe
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyColubridae
- subfamilyColubrinae
- genusElaphe
- speciesElaphe climacophora (Boie, 1826)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Elaphe. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Steppes RatsnakesElaphe dione (Pallas, 1773) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Japanese Four-lined RatsnakeElaphe quadrivirgata (Boie, 1826) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amur RatsnakesElaphe schrenckii Strauch, 1873 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Zoige RatsnakeElaphe zoigeensis Huang, Ding, Burbrink, Yang, Huang, Ling, Chen & Zhang, 2012 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Four-lined snake (or ratsnake)Elaphe quatuorlineata (Lacépède, 1789) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Blade-teethed Rat SnakeElaphe xiphodonta Qi, Shi, Ma, Gao, Bu, Grismer, LI & Wang, 2021 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Elaphe anomala (Boulenger, 1916) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chinese Leopard SnakeElaphe bimaculata Schmidt, 1925 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Taiwan Stink SnakeElaphe carinata (Günther, 1864) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pere David's Rat SnakeElaphe davidi (Sauvage, 1884) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Blotched rat snakeElaphe sauromates (Pallas, 1811) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Coluber climacophorus Boie, 1826 Boie, 1826 | synonym |
| Coluber virgatus Schlegel, 1837 Schlegel, 1837 | ambiguous synonym |
| Coluber quadrivirgatus Temminck & Schlegel, 1837 Temminck & Schlegel, 1837 | ambiguous synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Elaphe&species=climacophora Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:38YKS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.