Lampropeltini

Lampropeltini Temporal range: Early Miocene – present, 23–0  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N [1]
Milk snake, Lampropeltis triangulum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Colubrinae
Tribe:	Lampropeltini Dowling, 1975
Genera
Senticolis Dowling & Fries, 1987 Pantherophis Fitzinger, 1843 Pituophis Holbrook, 1842 Bogertophis Dowling & Price, 1988 Rhinocheilus Baird & Girard, 1853 Pseudelaphe Mertens & Rosenberg, 1943 Arizona Kennicott, 1859 Cemophora Cope, 1860 Lampropeltis Fitzinger, 1843

Lampropeltini is a tribe of colubrid snake endemic to the New World. These include the kingsnakes, milk snake, corn snake, gopher snakes, pine snakes, and bullsnakes. At least 51 species have been recognized and the group have been heavily studied for biogeography, morphology, ecology, and phylogenetics. ^{[1] [2]}

Taxonomy

The internal relationships among the genera has been disputed, but generally the most supported placement of the genera are as follows:

• The basal placement of Senticolis ^{[1] [3] [4] [2]}
• The sister relationship between Pantherophis and Pituophis , ^{[1] [3] [2]} with at least one study in 2016 suggesting the former genus is paraphyletic in respect to the latter ^[4]
• The sister relationship between Cemophora and Lampropeltis ^{[1] [3] [4] [2]}
• A clade consisting of genera of Rhinocheilus , Pseudelaphe , and Arizona ^{[1] [3] [4] [2]}

Pyron and Burbink (2009) phylogeny of the tribe using 31 species using 7 loci (1 nDNA and 6 mtDNA), as well as incorporating the fossil record: ^[1]

Lampropeltini	Senticolis Pituophis Pantherophis Bogertophis Pseudelaphe Rhinocheilus Arizona Cemophora Lampropeltis

Lampropeltini section from Pryon et al. (2013) in their large scale squamate phylogeny using 4,161 species on 12,896 base pairs from 12 loci (7 nDNA and 5 mtDNA): ^[3]

Lampropeltini	Senticolis Pituophis Pantherophis Bogertophis Rhinocheilus Arizona Pseudelaphe Cemophora Lampropeltis

Lampropeltini section from Figueroa et al. (2016) in their large scale snake phylogeny using 1,745 species on 9,523 base pairs from 10 loci (5 nDNA and 5 mtDNA): ^[4]

Lampropeltini	Senticolis Rhinocheilus Arizona Pseudelaphe Pantherophis (=Scotophis) Pantherophis sensu stricto Pituophis Bogertophis Cemophora Lampropeltis

Dahn et al. (2018) use 20 out of the 51 known species using 14 loci: ^[2]

Lampropeltini	Senticolis Pituophis Pantherophis Bogertophis Pseudelaphe Arizona Rhinocheilus Cemophora Lampropeltis

Description

California kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae) eating a gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer)

Some species are among the longest species ( Pantherophis obsoletus ) ^[5] and largest species ( Pituophis catenifer ) ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]} in North America. A lot of species also have evolved to predate and consume other species of snakes, most notably among the species in the genus Lampropeltis. ^[11] All species kill their prey through constriction. Many species are in captivity such as kingsnakes and corn snakes.

References

1. Pyron, R. A.; Burbrink, F. T. (2009). "Neogene diversification and taxonomic stability in the snake tribe Lampropeltini (Serpentes: Colubridae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 52 (2): 524–529. Bibcode:2009MolPE..52..524P. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.02.008. PMID   19236930.
2. Dahn, H. A.; Strickland, J. L.; Osorio, A.; Colston, T. J.; Parkinson, C. L. (2018). "Hidden diversity within the depauperate genera of the snake tribe Lampropeltini (Serpentes, Colubridae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 129: 214–225. Bibcode:2018MolPE.129..214D. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.08.018 . PMID   30189319.
3. Pyron; Burbrink; Wiens (2013). "A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 13 (1): 93. Bibcode:2013BMCEE..13...93P. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-13-93 . PMC   3682911 . PMID   23627680.
4. Figueroa, A.; McKelvy, A. D.; Grismer, L. L.; Bell, C. D.; Lailvaux, S. P. (2016). "A species-level phylogeny of extant snakes with description of a new colubrid subfamily and genus". PLOS ONE. 11 (9) e0161070. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1161070F. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161070 . PMC   5014348 . PMID   27603205.
5. Species profile: Minnesota DNR. Dnr.state.mn.us. Retrieved on 2012-12-19.
6. Roots, Clive (2006). Hibernation. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 89. ISBN   978-0-313-33544-0.
7. "Western North American Naturalist". Archived from the original on 2013-08-20.
8. Ernst, Carl; Ernst, Evelyn (2003). Snakes of the United States and Canada. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Books. ISBN   1588340198
9. Sterner, RT; Petersen, BE; Shumake, SA; Gaddis, SE; Bourassa, JB; Felix, TA; Ames, AD (2002). "Movements of a bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer) following predation of a radio-collared northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides)". Western North American Naturalist. 62 (2): 240–242.
10. Kaufman, GA; Gibbons, JW (1975). "Weight-Length Relationships in Thirteen Species of Snakes in the Southeastern United States". Herpetologica. 31 (1): 31–37.
11. Conant, R. (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 429 pp.
    ISBN   0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Genus Lampropeltis, p. 201.)