Pantherophis is a proposed genus of nonvenomous colubrid snakes endemic to North America and Central America, commonly called ratsnakes or rat snakes. All are powerful constrictors and help control rodent populations. Some taxonomic classification systems have accepted the proposed classification, while others have not.Although Pantherophis was originally proposed in 1843, in more recent history these species were placed in the genus Elaphe. In 2002 Utiger et al.