Lampropeltini

Lampropeltini is a tribe of colubrid snake endemic to North America. These include the kingsnakes, milk snake, corn snake, gopher snakes, pine snakes, and bullsnakes. At least 51 species have been recognized and the group have been heavily studied for biogeography, morphology, ecology, and phylogenetics.[1][2] The internal relationships among the genera has been disputed, but generally the most supported placement of the genera are as follows:

• The basal placement of Senticolis[1][3][4][2]
• The sister relationship between Pantherophis and Pituophis,[1][3][2] with at least one study in 2016 suggesting the former genus is paraphyletic in respect to the latter[4]
• The sister relationship between Cemophora and Lampropeltis[1][3][4][2]
• A clade consisting of genera of Rhinocheilus, Pseudelaphe, and Arizona[1][3][4][2]

Lampropeltini Temporal range: Early Miocene – present, 23–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N [1]
Milk snake, Lampropeltis triangulum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Colubrinae
Tribe:	Lampropeltini Dowling, 1975
Genera
Senticolis Dowling & Fries, 1987 Pantherophis Fitzinger, 1843 Pituophis Holbrook, 1842 Bogertophis Dowling & Price, 1988 Rhinocheilus Baird & Girard, 1853 Pseudelaphe Mertens & Rosenberg, 1943 Arizona Kennicott, 1859 Cemophora Cope, 1860 Lampropeltis Fitzinger, 1843

Pyron and Burbink (2009) phylogeny of the tribe using 31 species using 7 loci (1 nDNA and 6 mtDNA), as well as incorporating the fossil record:[1]

Lampropeltini	Senticolis         Pituophis     Pantherophis           Bogertophis     Pseudelaphe           Rhinocheilus     Arizona         Cemophora     Lampropeltis

Lampropeltini section from Pryon et al. (2013) in their large scale squamate phylogeny using 4,161 species on 12,896 base pairs from 12 loci (7 nDNA and 5 mtDNA):[3]

Lampropeltini	Senticolis         Pituophis     Pantherophis         Bogertophis         Rhinocheilus       Arizona     Pseudelaphe           Cemophora     Lampropeltis

Lampropeltini section from Figueroa et al. (2016) in their large scale snake phylogeny using 1,745 species on 9,523 base pairs from 10 loci (5 nDNA and 5 mtDNA):[4]

Lampropeltini	Senticolis           Rhinocheilus       Arizona     Pseudelaphe           Pantherophis (=Scotophis)       Pantherophis sensu stricto     Pituophis             Bogertophis       Cemophora     Lampropeltis

Dahn et al. (2018) use 20 out of the 51 known species using 14 loci:[2]

Lampropeltini	Senticolis         Pituophis     Pantherophis           Bogertophis     Pseudelaphe           Arizona       Rhinocheilus       Cemophora     Lampropeltis

Some species are among the longest species (Pantherophis obsoletus)[5] and largest species (Pituophis catenifer)[6][7][8][9][10] in North America. A lot of species also have evolved to predate and consume other species of snakes, most notably among the species in the genus Lampropeltis.[11] All species kill their prey through constriction. Many species are in captivity such as kingsnakes and corn snakes.

References

1. Pyron, R. A.; Burbrink, F. T. (2009). "Neogene diversification and taxonomic stability in the snake tribe Lampropeltini (Serpentes: Colubridae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 52 (2): 524–529. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.02.008. PMID 19236930.
2. Dahn, H. A.; Strickland, J. L.; Osorio, A.; Colston, T. J.; Parkinson, C. L. (2018). "Hidden diversity within the depauperate genera of the snake tribe Lampropeltini (Serpentes, Colubridae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 129: 214–225. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.08.018. PMID 30189319.
3. Pyron; Burbrink; Wiens (2013). "A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 13: 93. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-93. PMC 3682911. PMID 23627680.
4. Figueroa, A.; McKelvy, A. D.; Grismer, L. L.; Bell, C. D.; Lailvaux, S. P. (2016). "A species-level phylogeny of extant snakes with description of a new colubrid subfamily and genus". PLOS ONE. 11 (9): e0161070. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1161070F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0161070. PMC 5014348. PMID 27603205.
5. Species profile: Minnesota DNR. Dnr.state.mn.us. Retrieved on 2012-12-19.
6. Roots, Clive (2006). Hibernation. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-313-33544-0.
7. "Western North American Naturalist". Archived from the original on 2013-08-20.
8. Ernst, Carl; Ernst, Evelyn (2003). Snakes of the United States and Canada. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Books. ISBN 1588340198
9. Sterner, RT; Petersen, BE; Shumake, SA; Gaddis, SE; Bourassa, JB; Felix, TA; Ames, AD (2002). "Movements of a bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer) following predation of a radio-collared northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides)". Western North American Naturalist. 62 (2): 240–242.
10. Kaufman, GA; Gibbons, JW (1975). "Weight-Length Relationships in Thirteen Species of Snakes in the Southeastern United States". Herpetologica. 31 (1): 31–37.
11. Conant, R. (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 429 pp.
    ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Genus Lampropeltis, p. 201.)