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Pseudelaphe flavirufa (COPE, 1867)

IUCN Red List - Pseudelaphe flavirufa - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Lampropeltini, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesPseudelaphe flavirufa flavirufa (COPE 1866)
Pseudelaphe flavirufa matudai (SMITH 1941)
Pseudelaphe flavirufa pardalina (PETERS 1868) 
Common NamesE: Yellow-red Ratsnake, Yellow-red Rat Snake
S: Ratonera del Trópico 
SynonymColuber flavirufus COPE 1867: 319
Natrix flavirufus — COPE 1887: 71
Coluber flavirufus — BOULENGER 1894: 39
Elaphe flavirufa — AMARAL 1929: 159
Elaphe flavirufa — GAIGE 1936: 299
Elaphe flavirufa — TAYLOR 1939
Elaphe chlorosoma — TAYLOR 1939
Pseudoelaphe flavirufus — MERTENS & ROSENBERG 1943
Elaphe chlorosoma — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945: 59
Elaphe flavirufa flavirufa — TAYLOR 1950: 448
Elaphe flavirufa polysticha SMITH & WILLIAMS 1966
Elaphe flavirufa polysticha — MCLEAN et al. 1977
Elaphe flavirufa — LINER 1994
Elaphe flavirufa — SCHULZ 1996: 273
Elaphe flavirufa — CAMPBELL 1998
Elaphe flavirufa — LEE 2000: 289
Pseudelaphe [sic] flavirufus — UTIGER et al. 2002
Pantherophis flavirufa — UTIGER et al. 2002
Pseudoelaphe flavirufa — MATTISON 2007: 35
Pseudoelaphe flavirufa — PYRON & BURBRINK 2009
Pseudelaphe flavirufa — WALLACH et al. 2014: 598
Pantherophis flavirufus — HERNÁNDEZ-ORÓÑEZ et al. 2015
Pseudelaphe flavirufa — SUNYER & MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA 2023

Pseudelaphe flavirufa matudai (SMITH 1941)
Elaphe flavirufa matudai SMITH 1941
Elaphe flavirufa matudai — DOWLING 1952
Elaphe flavirufa matudai — STUART 1963 (index)
Pseudelaphe flavirufa matudai — LINER 2008: 135
Pseudelaphe flavirufa matudai — HEIMES 2016: 135

Pseudelaphe flavirufa pardalina (PETERS 1869)
Elaphis pardalinus PETERS 1869: 642
Elaphis rodriguezii BOCOURT 1887: 168
Elaphe flavirufa pardalina — DOWLING 1952: 9
Elaphe flavirufa pardalina — STUART 1963: 98
Elaphe flavirufa pardalina — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 101
Elaphe flavirufa pardalina — BAUER et al. 1995: 71
Pseudelaphe flavirufa pardalina — HEIMES 2016: 135 
DistributionMexico (Chiapas, Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Veracruz, Puebla, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Quéretaro, Oaxaca), Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua

Type locality: Mexico: Yucatan (Cope, 1867)

pardalina: Mexico (E Chiapas); Type locality: “ohne Fundort” (unknown)

matudai: Chiapas (Mexico); Type locality: “Salo de Agua, 1,200 feet on Cerro Ovando, near Escuintla, Chiapas”. Apparently only known from the type locality (Heimes 2016: 134).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 6566
Holotype: ZMB 3790 [pardalina]
Holotype: USNM 110303 [matudai] 
Diagnosis 
CommentType species: Coluber flavirufus COPE 1867 is the type species of the genus Pseudelaphe MERTENS & ROSENBERG 1943: 61.

Subspecies: (Pseud-) Elaphe flavirufa phaescens has been elevated to full species status.

Synonymy: Pseudelaphe flavirufa polystichus (SMITH & WILLIAMS 1966) has been synonymized with P. flavirufa (e.g. by WALLACH et al.2014).

Similar species: has been confused with Senticolis triaspis.

Phylogenetics: see Dahn et al. 2018 for a phylogeny of Lampropeltini.

Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Distribution: not confirmed for Querétaro although it may occur in the North of the state fide Tepos-Ramírez et al. 2023. 
EtymologyThe generic name was derived from the Greek words elaphos, meaning "deer-like" and pseudes, meaning "false."
The specific epithet is derived from the Latin words flavus, meaning "yellow" and rufus, meaning "red," in reference to the dorsal coloration (LEMOS-ESPINAL & DIXON 2013). 
References
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