Extension of the distribution of Pantherophis emoryi (Baird & Girard, 1853) (Squamata: Colubridae) in Mexico

Abstract

Great Plains Rat Snake, Pantherophis emoryi (Baird & Girard, 1853) (Squamata: Colubridae), it´s a medium-size snake (total length=1530 mm; Heimes, 2016). Its distribution is wide, ranging from southwestern Illinois, Missouri, southern South Dakota and southeastern Colorado in the United States, to the south in Mexico in the states of Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas and Veracruz (Heimes, 2016; Uetz et al., 2021) Recently, Quintero-Díaz et al. (2016), provide the first record of P. emoryi in the state of Aguascalientes and a list of localities and museum specimens. It inhabits a great variety of environments, in arid and tropical regions; its occurrence seems to be limited to the proximity of permanent bodies of water (Ramírez-Bautista et al., 2014).