THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Colubridae  

Louisiana Pinesnake
Pituophis ruthveni Stull, 1929
pit-yoo-OH-fis — ruth-VEN-ai

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

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.10.08.04.17)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.17 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Louisiana Texas

Etymology: The scientific name Pituophis ruthveni is a taxonomic tribute combining habitat reference with a patronym:
Pituophis — From Greek: πίτυς (pitys) = “pine” ὄφις (ophis) = “snake”; Pituophis = “pine snake,” referring to the typical habitat.
ruthveni — A patronym, named in honor of Alexander Grant Ruthven (1882–1971), a prominent American herpetologist and later president of the University of Michigan. Ruthven made significant contributions to the study of reptiles and amphibians in North America.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Louisiana Pine Snake (Pituophis melanoleucus ruthveni: 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.);

Taxon Links:

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

Selected References:
1929 Stull, Olive G. The description of a new subspecies of Pituophis melanoleucus from Louisiana. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (205):1-3
1932 Stull, Olive G. An annotated list of the forms of the genus Pituophis. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (250):1-5
1940 Stull, Olive G. Variations and relationships in the snakes of the genus Pituophis. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (175):1-225
1951 Smith, Hobart M. and J. P. Kennedy. Pituophis melanoleucus ruthveni in eastern Texas and its bearing on the status of P. catenifer . Herpetologica 7(3):93-96
1960 Mitchell, R. W., and Donald W. Tinkle. Another Texas record for the Louisiana pine snake, Pituophis melanoleucus ruthveni Stull. Herpetologica 16:143-144
1976 Thomas, Richard A., Billy J. Davis, and M. R. Culbertson. Notes on variation and range of the Louisiana Pine Snake, Pituophis melanoleucus ruthveni Stull (Reptilia, Serpentes, Colubridae). Journal of Herpetology 10(3):252-254
1986 Knight, James L. Variation in snout morphology in the North American snake Pituophis melanoleucus (Serpentes: Colubridae). Journal of Herpetology 20:77-79
1990 Sweet, Samuel S. and William S. Parker. Pituophis melanoleucus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (474):1-8
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Viewpoint: A new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibins and reptiles Herpetological Review 22(2):42-43
1995 Reichling, Steven B. The taxonomic status of the Louisiana pine snake (Pituophis melanoleucus ruthveni) and its relavance to the evolutionary species concept. Journal of Herpetology 29(2):186-198
2000 Rodriguez-Robles, Javier A. and Jose M. De Jesus-Escobar. Molecular systematics of New World Gopher, Bull, and Pinesnakes (Pituophis: Colubridae), a transcontinental species complex. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 14(1):35–50
2002 Himes, John G., Laurence M. Hardy, D. Craig Rudolph, and Shirley J. Burgdorf. Growth rates and mortality of the Louisiana Pine Snake (Pituophis ruthveni). Journal of Herpetology 36(4):683-687
2006 Fitch, Henry Sheldon. Gopher snakes, bullsnakes and pine snakes. Journal of Herpetology (17):16-17
2006 Himes, John G., Laurence M. Hardy, D. Craig Rudolph, and Shirely J. Burgdorf. Movement patterns and habitat selection by native and repatriated Louisiana Pine Snakes (Pituophis ruthveni): Implications for conservation. Herpetological Natural History 9(2):103-116
2008 Collins, Joseph T. and Travis W. Taggart. An alternative classification of the New World rat snakes (genus Pantherophis [Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae]). Journal of Kansas Herpetology (26):16-18
2014 Krysko, Kenneth L., Dustin C. Smith, Michael R. Rochford, Guy N. Kieckhefer III, and Leroy P. Nunez. Confirmation of introduced Louisiana pinesnakes, Pituophis ruthveni, in Florida based on molecular analyses. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation 8(2):36-43
2014 Crother, Brian I. The bold taxonomic hypotheses of Collins (1991): 23 years later. Herpetological Review 45(2):268-272
2017 Adams, Connor S., Pierce, Josh B., Rudolph, D. Craig, Ryberg, Wade A., and Hibbitts, Toby J. Pituophis ruthveni Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (910):1-16

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Wednesday 18 June 2025 03:30 CT