The biogeography of<i>Elaphe sauromates</i>(Pallas, 1814), with a description of a new rat snake species
Journal: PeerJ
Year: 2019

<i>Elaphe urartica</i> sp. nov. represents a cryptic species whose ancestors presumably diverged from their common ancestor with <i>E. sauromates</i> around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary. The intraspecific genetic structure indicates that the recent diversity of both species has been predominantly shaped by Pleistocene climatic oscillations, with glacial refugia mainly located in the Balkans, Crimea, and/or Anatolia in <i>E. sauromates</i> and Anatolia and/or the Caucasus in <i>E. urartica</i> s