Eastern Ribbon Snake Thamnophis sauritus  (Linnaeus, 1766)

Taxonomic Comments:

Meshaka, Loftus, & Steiner (2000 Florida Scientist 63(2): 84-103) presented evidence questioning the validity of the subspecies, Thamnophis sauritus nitae Rossman 1963. Collins & Taggart (2002 Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians. Fifth Edition) submitted for consideration the proposal by Meshaka, Loftus, and Steiner (2000 op. cit.) to a snake systematist group composed of Frank T. Burbrink, Jeff Camper, Harry W. Greene, L. Lee Grismer, Robin Lawson, James R. McCranie, Andrew H. Price, Javier Rodriguez-Robles, and Samuel S. Sweet, and they agreed.