''Elaphe carinata'', the king ratsnake (also known as Taiwan stink snake), is a species of

Colubrid Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on ever ...

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

found in

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

and

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

Description

''Elaphe carinata'' is a large snake with total length up to . The other common names "stink snake" or "stinking goddess" refer to this species' highly developed post-anal glands which, when the snake is picked up, are frequently emptied, with a very strong, bad odour. ''Elaphe carinata'' is an active, predatory snake that eats everything from beetles to birds to snakes, with particular preference for the latter. The common name of "king ratsnake" refers to its habit of eating other snakes, including venomous species such as the

Chinese cobra The Chinese cobra (''Naja atra''), also called the Taiwan cobra, is a species of cobra in the family Elapidae, found mostly in southern China and a couple of neighboring nations and islands. It is one of the most prevalent venomous snakes in C ...

and the

sharp-nosed viper ''Deinagkistrodon'' is a monotypic genus created for the venomous pit viper species, ''D. acutus'', which is endemic to Southeast Asia. No subspecies are currently recognized. Description ''Deinagkistrodon acutus'' is light brown or greyish b ...

. It suffocates its prey by constriction, similar to the hunting technique of boas and pythons. It also preys on rodents and other small animals. There is some concern among herpetoculturists that the king ratsnake may actually be more closely related to the kingsnakes of the genus ''Lampropeltis'' than to its current taxonomic family of the ratsnakes (''Elaphe''). This is due in part to the dietary habits of the king ratsnake, in particular its preference for ectothermic prey such as snakes and lizards, and to the physical structure of the head, which is far less distinct than that of most rat snakes and closely resembles the elongated head and indistinct neck structure of the kingsnakes. In actuality, there is very little direct genetic relationship between the two genera. They share much more in common genetically with other Eurasian rat snakes such as the Russian rat snake ('' Elaphe schrenkii'') and the Japanese rat snake (''

Elaphe climacophora The Japanese rat snake (''Elaphe climacophora'') is a medium-sized colubrid snake found throughout the Japanese archipelago (except the far South West) as well as on the Russian-administered Kunashir Island. In Japanese it is known as the ''aod ...

''). They may also share a common lineage with the genera ''Coelognathus'', ''Gonyosoma'' and ''Orthriophis''. External morphological characteristics and behavior alone are generally not considered reliable taxonomic keys to classifying relationships between species, as the majority of current classification is based on DNA evidence. The superficial resemblance to American kingsnakes is more likely an example of convergent evolution, much like the similarities between the South American emerald tree boa (''

Corallus caninus The emerald tree boa (''Corallus caninus'')Mehrtens JM. 1987. ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . is a boa species found in the rainforests of South America. Since 2009 the species ''Corallus batesii ...

'') and the Indo-Australian green tree python (''

Morelia viridis The green tree python (''Morelia viridis'') is a species of snake in the family Pythonidae. The species is native to New Guinea, some islands in Indonesia, and the Cape York Peninsula in Australia. First described by Hermann Schlegel in 1872, it ...

''). The king rat snake is also uncommonly found in the exotic pet trade. Distribution: China, northern Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan (Ryukyu Islands).

Use

''Elaphe carinata'' is one of major species in snake trade in China, particularly in skin trade but also of live animals; it is the most commonly available snake in restaurants.Corn Snakes and other Rat Snakes, Richard D. Bartlett, copyright 1996, Barron's Educational Series

References

External links

* Elaphe Snakes of Asia Snakes of China Reptiles of Japan Reptiles of Taiwan Snakes of Vietnam Reptiles described in 1864 Taxa named by Albert Günther {{Colubrids-stub