NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Pearl-banded Rat Snake
Euprepiophis perlaceus (Stejneger, 1929)
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
Euprepiophis perlaceus, also known as Sichuan rat snake or pearl-banded rat snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae snake. It is endemic to western Sichuan Province in China. This snake is designated as Endangered by the IUCN Red List. It is found in the Palearctic.
It is one of three species of Asian rat snakes which were formerly assigned to the genus Elaphe. They were separated from Elaphe in 2002 by Utiger et al. following evidence from DNA analysis. It is a true rat snake but it is not as closely related to other northern-hemisphere rat snakes as its former place in Elaphe would suggest.
Wikipedia contributors, Euprepiophis perlaceus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:09:24.778107+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Euprepiophis perlaceus (Stejneger, 1929)
- Name authority
- (Stejneger, 1929)
- Common name
- Pearl-banded Rat Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Euprepiophis
- 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
- genusEuprepiophis
- speciesEuprepiophis perlaceus (Stejneger, 1929)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Euprepiophis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Burrowing RatsnakeEuprepiophis conspicillata (Boie, 1826) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Elaphe perlacea Stejneger, 1929 Stejneger, 1929 | 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=Euprepiophis&species=perlaceus 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:3CXBF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.