THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part-snakes)    Colubridae  

Trans-Pecos Ratsnake
Bogertophis subocularis (Brown, 1901)
BOH-ger-TOH-fiss — sub-ock-yoo-LAIR-iss

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

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Occurrences:
1,744 Total
1,036 Museum
708 Other
Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.05.17.07.13.26)
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: New Mexico Texas

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its distinctive subocular scales.
Bogertophis — A patronym honoring Charles Mitchill Bogert (1908–1992), a distinguished American herpetologist, combined with ophis (ὄφις), Greek for “snake.” The name means “Bogert’s snake.”
subocularis — From Latin sub, “under,” and ocularis, “of the eye.” Refers to a scale located beneath the eye (the subocular), a notable feature of this species that helps distinguish it from related taxa.

First instance(s) of published English names:
H-spotted Snake (Coluber subocularis: Brown, Arthur, E. 1902. Report of the Board of Directors. Pages 5-22 in Thirtieth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia. Allen, Lane, and Scott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. pp.); Davis Mountain Rat Snake (Elaphe subocularis: Schmidt, Karl Peterson and D. D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. C.P. Putnam and Sons, New York. 365pp.); Trans-pecos Rat Snake (Elaphe subocularis: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1901 Brown, Arthur Erwin. A review of the genera and species of American snakes, north of Mexico. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 53(1):10-110
1902 "1901" Brown, Arthur Erwin. A new species of Coluber from western Texas. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 53(3):1-4
1981 Worthington, Richard D. Elaphe subocularis. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (268):1-2
1988 Dowling, Herndon G. and R. M. Price. A proposed new genus for Elaphe subocularis and Elaphe rosaliae. The Snake 20:52-63
1990 Price, Robert M. Bogertophis. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (497):1-2
1990 Webb, Robert G. Description of a new subspecies of Bogertophis subocularis (Brown) from northern Mexico (Serpentes: Colubridae). Texas Journal of Science 42(3):227-243
2007 Burbrink, Frank T. and Robin Lawson. How and when did Old World ratsnakes disperse into the New World? Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43:173-189

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 12 July 2026 22:15 CT