THE REPTILES OF OHIO 249 



Thatnnophis sauritus saur'ttus (Linnaeus) 

 Eastern Ribbon Snake 



(Page 99; maps 24 and 62; plate 13, fig. 2) 



Klauber (1948, 8) has pointed out that Linnaeus undoubtedly had a 

 ribbon snake at hand when he assigned the Coluber Sirtalis in the 10th edition 

 (1758, 222) of his Systema Naturae. Therefore the ribbon snake, according 

 to the rules of priority, would have to be known as Thamnophis sirtalis and 

 the next earliest name {Coluber ordinatus Linnaeus — 1766) would have to be 

 applied to the eastern garter snake. Such a shift could only result in bound- 

 less confusion. The name sirtalis has been associated with the garter snake 

 for nearly two centuries and is so deeply entrenched in the literature and in 

 museum collections, that transferring it to the ribbon snake would make it 

 completely valueless; sirtalis would have no meaning and would have to be 

 coupled with the phrase "formerly sauritus" whenever it was used. In order 

 to avoid such a regrettable situation, an appeal has been made (Schmidt and 

 Conant, 1950) to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 

 requesting that the rules be suspended and that sirtalis be continued for the 

 garter snake and sauritus for the ribbon snake. 



Only a few ribbon snakes have been collected in Ohio in recent years, but 

 the new records, when added to the old ones, suggest some interesting infer- 

 ences concerning the past and present distribution of this semi-aquatic garter 

 snake in Ohio. The new records are: 



Carroll County: Sec. 12, Washington Twp. (FWB). Geauga Count\': I mi. 

 E of Chardon (OSM 728). GUERNSEY CoUNTY: Valley of Salt Fork, Jefferscn Twp. 

 (OSM 510). Hardin County: 3 mi. E of Mt. Victory (OSM 636, 757). Jack- 

 son County: Liberty Twp. fOSM 758). Portage County: Hiram (NU 19). 

 Summit County: Near Kent (HTG). Wyandot County: Pitt Twp. (OSM 709). 

 County not Stated: Buckeye Lake (OUVC 1321). It also is reported from 3 mi. 

 W of Antwerp, Paulding County, by Ehrhart, and from near Lake Hope, Vinton 

 County, by Gier. 



When all of these localities are added to those previously plotted (see 

 map 62), three things are at once apparent: (1) The ribbon snake (as stared 

 on page 101) is widely distributed through northern Ohio, especially in the 

 lake and bog region of the northeastern counties; (2) there are four addi- 

 tional, scattered localities from the unglaciated area; and (3) th? species is 

 conspicuously absent from southwestern Ohio. 



In commenting upon habitats within the unglaciated plateau, Thomas has 

 pointed out to me that the region has "many filled vallevs harboring bogs 

 and swamps with strong boreal aspects . . . [and] none of these localities is 

 many miles from the glacial front." Of the ribbon snakes recently taken in 

 this area, only two are accompanied bv detailed habitat notes. The one from 

 Vinton County was found alongside a trail through oak woods in the Zaleski 

 Forest about a mile southwest of the Lake Hope dam; there was a small 

 stream and sphagnum bog near-bv Buchanan, in commenting upon the speci- 

 men from Carroll County, states that "in the valley of Still Fork Creek, which 

 stretches from Mechanicstown to Minerva, where it hits Big Sandy Creek, the 



