The yellow-red rat snake (Pseudelaphe flavirufa) is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Mexico and Central America. Three subspecies are recognized.
P. flavirufa is found in the Mexican states of Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas. It is also found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.[1]
P. flavirufa may attain a total length of 1.22m (04feet), which includes a tail 26cm (10inches) long. Dorsally, it is yellowish or pale brown with a series of reddish or chestnut-brown spots, which are black-edged and may be confluent into a zigzag stripe. There is an alternating lateral series of smaller spots on each side of the dorsal series. Ventrally, it is yellowish, either plain or with small brown spots.[2]
There are three subspecies of P. flavirufa, including the nominotypical subspecies, which are recognized as being valid.[1]
A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Pseudelaphe.
The subspecific name, matudai, is in honor of Japanese-Mexican botanist Eizi Matuda.[3]