Yellow-red Rat Snake

The yellow-red rat snake (Pseudelaphe flavirufa) is a species of snake in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. The species is native to Mexico and Central America. Three subspecies are recognized.

Geographic distribution

Pseudelaphe flavirufa is found in the Mexican states of Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas. It is also found in the countries Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of Pseudelaphe flavirufa is forest.

Description

Pseudelaphe flavirufa may attain a total length of 1.22 m (4.0 ft), which includes a tail 26 cm (10 in) long. Dorsally, it is yellowish or pale brown with a series of reddish or chestnut-brown spots, which are black-edged and may be confluent into a zigzag stripe. There is an alternating lateral series of smaller spots on each side of the dorsal series. Ventrally, it is yellowish, either plain or with small brown spots.

Reproduction

Pseudelaphe flavirufa is oviparous.

Subspecies

There are three subspecies of Pseudelaphe flavirufa, including the nominotypical subspecies, which are recognized as being valid.

Pseudelaphe flavirufa flavirufa (Cope, 1867)

Pseudelaphe flavirufa matudai (H.M. Smith, 1941)

Pseudelaphe flavirufa pardalina (W. Peters, 1869)

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Pseudelaphe.

Etymology

The subspecific name, matudai, is in honor of Japanese-Mexican botanist Eizi Matuda.