Taxonomy
Until recently the eastern and western fox snakes were considered to be subspecies of Elaphe vulpina, with the western fox snake being Elaphe vulpina vulpina and the eastern fox snake Elaphe vulpina gloydi.
Utiger et al. (2002) argued that North American Rat Snakes of the genus Elaphe are a monophyletic group and thus separate from Old World members of the genus. They therefore resurrected the available name Pantherophis Fitzinger for all North American taxa (north of Mexico).
However, much controversy over the taxonomic suggestion surfaced and the International Committee for Zoological Nomenclature has not supported the change. In 2003, Crother et al. rejected the taxonomic change to Pantherophis, preferring to retain the current concept of Elaphe.
- Western Fox Snake, Elaphe vulpina (Baird and Girard, 1853)
- Eastern Fox Snake, Elaphe gloydi Conant, 1940
Read more about this topic: Fox Snake