>>I criticized Kluge for dumping all of the species in his polytomy into the single genus Eryx, and said that he should have maintained the status quo. The same prudent course of action could have been followed by Utiger et al. They could have maintained the status quo (which would result in the classification of most species in the polytomy within the single genus Elaphe), instead of the destructive new arrangement of 10 different genera for a group of snakes that are closely related to each other and that are morphologically very similar.



You clearly have very little experience with the diversity of Asian Elaphe. Many of these differ just as much from Pantherophis, or indeed from "real" Elaphe, as do Lampropeltis or Pituophis.



Your taxonomic philosophy clearly differs from that of Utiger and from most praticing taxonomists. No problem, but you wqill have to accept that you are in a minority, and the rest of us have moved on.



Cheers,



Wolfgang
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