ok, i am asking for some feedback from all of the asian rat experts. I am going to try to do some work next summer on some of the korean species and want to use this winter to try to soak up as much info from anyone and everyone so i can go into this thing with as much knowledge as possible.

Having said that, i will tell you where I am at. The only source that I have had available to me is Baek and Sim 1999. I do not know if there is a translated version available and if so if anyone has it. In 2004 I did some work with Dr. Sim on a series we did for korean reptiles. During my time with Dr Sim we discussed the korean ratsnake. At that time he said that they were E. schrenki and were known to exist in three "phases". Black and white, brown patterned and yellow. He was unaware of E. anomala.

It is my understanding, correct me if I am wrong, that E. anomala was originally described as and considered a subspecies of schrenki and possibly sometime in the early 2000's it was elevated to its own species.

I did not readily find a pic of schrenki but i do not have any questions about it. The only thing I would like to do is to get some photos of some of them for comparision of colors/pattern to northern localities.

I would like to know about anomala. I have enclosed some pics of both "varieties" for your interpretation. Any info would be helpful. All of the anomala pics i have seen are of the patterned variety and i am wondering if the patternless variety has even been described. If so is it considered a subspecies of anomala or simply a variant / locality?

I also am adding pics to the thread of a schrenki that i found on an island off of the western coast. I had hoped to return to this island to try to determine if this coloration was recurring on this island. One possibility that I considered is that there may be a population of this form that has evolved the hyper melanism as a result of the lower temps/winds that occur on the island as a means to more rapidly raise their body temps. Of course this will require my return to the island which I hope to do this year. I did visit a neighboring island this past summer and in 2 days I was able to locate 5 baby schrenki, all with normal neonate coloring/markings. I was unable to locate any adult specimens.

I guess my last item that i would like to discuss is the albino korean rats that i have seen for sale in the US. Does anyone know the history of where these originated from and wether they are actually schrenki or anomala I have never seen them listed with their latin handle, only as korean rats). I have only seen pics of babies. I also know that because even a normal colored schrenki sells on the black market here (for medicinal purposes) for more than they are getting for albino babies, that chance of them actually being of korean origin are unlikely. Any insight would be appreciated.

The first 2 pics are of an anomala and the 3rd pic is of an anomala with the hyper melanistic schrenki from the island.

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