NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Eastern Rat Snake (alleghaniensis)
Pantherophis alleghaniensis (Holbrook, 1836)
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.
Gray Ratsnake (Pantherophis spiloides)
Will Brown · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The central ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis), also commonly known as the black ratsnake, chicken snake, gray ratsnake, midland ratsnake, and pilot black snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. The gray ratsnake is one of eight species within the American ratsnake genus Pantherophis.
Wikipedia contributors, Central ratsnake; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:12:37.751758+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pantherophis alleghaniensis (Holbrook, 1836)
- Name authority
- (Holbrook, 1836)
- Common name
- Eastern Rat Snake (alleghaniensis)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Pantherophis
- 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
- genusPantherophis
- speciesPantherophis alleghaniensis (Holbrook, 1836)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pantherophis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Baird's Rat SnakePantherophis bairdi (Yarrow, 1880) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Western FoxsnakePantherophis ramspotti Crother, White, Savage, Eckstut, Graham & Gardner, 2011 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Slowinski ’s Cornsnake [slowinskii]Pantherophis slowinskii (Burbrink, 2002) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eastern Corn snakePantherophis guttatus (Linnaeus, 1766) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Black Rat snakePantherophis obsoletus (Say, 1823) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eastern Fox SnakePantherophis vulpinus (Baird & Girard, 1853) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Elaphis spiloides Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 | synonym |
| Coluber obsoletus lemniscatus Cope, 1888 Cope, 1888 | ambiguous synonym |
| Elaphe obsoleta rossalleni Neill, 1949 Neill, 1949 | ambiguous synonym |
| Elaphe quadrivittata deckerti Brady, 1932 Brady, 1932 | ambiguous synonym |
| Elaphis holbrookii Duméril & Bibron, 1854 Duméril & Bibron, 1854 | ambiguous synonym |
| Coluber alleghaniensis Holbrook, 1836 Holbrook, 1836 | synonym |
| Scotophis alleghaniensis Baird & Girard, 1853 Baird & Girard, 1853 | synonym |
| Elaphe quadrivittata parallela Barbour & Engels, 1942 Barbour & Engels, 1942 | ambiguous synonym |
| Elaphe williamsi Barbour & Carr, 1940 Barbour & Carr, 1940 | ambiguous synonym |
| Coluber reticularis Daudin, 1803 Daudin, 1803 | 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=Pantherophis&species=alleghaniensis 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.
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:4CGY8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.