Coluber

Coluber
Coluber constrictor anthicus, buttermilk racer
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Colubrinae
Genus:	Coluber Linnaeus, 1758[1]
Species
Many, but see text.
Synonyms
Bascanion, Bascanium, Coryphodon, Hierophis, Masticophis, Zamenis,[2] Dolichophis, but see text.

Coluber is a genus of thin-bodied, fast-moving, colubrid snakes commonly known as racers. They are widespread around the world and vary greatly in habitat and behaviour. In the past, Coluber was a catch-all genus which included almost all snake species known at the time. Even the cobra was once classified as Coluber naja.

As presented here, the genus is limited to its "modern" content of racers and whipsnakes. Still, some of these species (namely the whipsnakes) are increasingly separated as Dolichophis and others probably also do not really belong here.

Species

The following species and subspecies may be included in the genus Coluber, sensu lato.^[3]

Nota bene: In the following list, a taxon author in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Coluber.

• Coluber andreanus (F. Werner, 1917) – Andreas' racer
• Coluber bholanathi Sharma, 1976 – Sharma's racer
• Coluber brevis (Boulenger, 1895) – short racer
• Coluber caspius Gmelin, 1789 – Caspian whipsnake
• Coluber constrictor Linnaeus, 1758
  • Coluber constrictor anthicus (Cope, 1862) – buttermilk racer
  • Coluber constrictor constrictor Linnaeus, 1758 – northern black racer
  • Coluber constrictor etheridgei Wilson, 1970 – tan racer
  • Coluber constrictor flaviventris Say, 1823 – eastern yellowbelly racer
  • Coluber constrictor foxii (Baird & Girard, 1853) – blue racer
  • Coluber constrictor helvigularis Auffenberg, 1955 – brownchin racer
  • Coluber constrictor latrunculus Wilson, 1970 – blackmask racer
  • Coluber constrictor oaxaca (Jan, 1863) – Mexican racer
  • Coluber constrictor paludicola Auffenberg & Babbitt, 1955 – Everglades racer
    

    Juvenile Coluber constrictor flaviventris, eastern yellowbelly racer
  • Coluber constrictor priapus Dunn & Wood, 1939 – southern black racer
• Coluber dorri (Lataste, 1888)
• Coluber elegantissimus (Günther, 1878) – elegant racer
• Coluber gemonensis (Laurenti, 1768) – Balkan whipsnake
• Coluber gracilis (Günther, 1862) – graceful racer
• Coluber insulanus Mertens, 1965 – Sarso Island racer
• Coluber jugularis Linnaeus, 1758 – large whipsnake
• Coluber karelini Brandt, 1838 – spotted desert racer
• Coluber largeni Schätti, 2001
• Coluber manseri Leviton, 1986 – Manser's black racer
• Coluber messanai Schätti & Lanza, 1989 – Schätti's racer
• Coluber mormon (Baird & Girard, 1852) – western yellowbelly racer
• Coluber najadum (Eichwald, 1831)
  • Coluber najadum albitemporalis Darevsky & Orlov, 1994
  • Coluber najadum dahli (Fitzinger, 1826) – Dahl's whipsnake
  • Coluber najadum kalymnensis B. Schneider, 1979
  • Coluber najadum najadum (Eichwald, 1831)
  • Coluber najadum schmidtleri Schätti & McCarthy, 2001
• Coluber nummifer Reuss, 1834
• Coluber rhodorachis (Jan, 1865) – braid snake or Jan's cliff racer
• Coluber rubriceps (Venzmer, 1919)

Adult Coluber constrictor flaviventris, eastern yellowbelly racer

• Coluber scortecci Lanza, 1963 – Scortecci's racer^[4]
• Coluber sinai (Schmidt & Marx, 1956) – Sinai racer
• Coluber smithi (Boulenger, 1895) – Smith's racer^[4]
• Coluber somalicus (Boulenger, 1896)
• Coluber taylori Parker, 1949
• Coluber thomasi Parker, 1931 – Thomas' semi-banded racer
• Coluber variabilis (Boulenger, 1905)
• Coluber viridiflavus (Lacépède, 1789) – green whip snake
  • Coluber viridiflavus carbonarius (Bonaparte, 1833)
  • Coluber viridiflavus viridiflavus (Lacépède, 1789)
• Coluber vittacaudatus Blyth, 1854
• Coluber zebrinus Broadley & Schätti, 2000

References

1. "Coluber ". Dahms Tierleben. www.dahmstierleben.de/systematik/Reptilien/Squamata/Serpentes/colubroidea/colubridae/colubrinae.
2. Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 1,105 pp. (in two volumes). (Genus Coluber, pp. 130-132).
3. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
4. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Coluber scortecci, p. 239; Coluber smithi, p. 247).

Further reading

• Linnaeus C. 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, diferentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata. Stockholm: L. Salvius. 824 pp. (Coluber, new genus, p. 216). (in Latin).