Common name: Roger’s Racer
Scientific name: Platyceps rogersi
Family: Colubridae

Size:
Total length: up to at least 87.3 cm in the confirmed Lebanese specimens. The three measured individuals in the 2026 study were 21.5 cm, 69.5 cm, and 87.3 cm long.

Identification:
A slender desert racer with a narrow head, relatively large eyes, and smooth scales. The body is pale sandy to greyish, with darker transverse blotches or markings that provide camouflage on gravel and desert ground. The Lebanese specimens had 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody, 193–202 ventral scales, and 80–91 paired subcaudal scales. The study documented a new low count of 80 subcaudals for the species.

Habitat:
Semi-desert and arid habitats, especially pebble- and sand-covered plains and hillsides with sparse vegetation, rocky crevices, and disturbed agricultural land bordering natural desert habitat. In Lebanon it is associated with the northern Beqaa Valley, which represents the westernmost extension of the Syrian Desert.

Status in Lebanon:
A newly confirmed species for Lebanon. The first formal scientific confirmation was published in 2026 from the northern Beqaa Valley, based on several documented individuals from the Hermel and Qaa areas. Two individuals were genetically confirmed. The discovery raised the known number of colubrid snakes in Lebanon to 16 and the total number of snake species to 27.

Diet:
The attached Lebanese study does not provide direct dietary observations for the species, so I would avoid giving a specific prey list on this page unless we verify it from another authoritative source.

Behavior:
An active, ground-dwelling desert racer. The Lebanese study notes that snakes in the northern Beqaa occur at low densities and can be difficult to detect, which may partly explain why P. rogersi remained undocumented in the country for so long.

Conservation Status:
Least Concern (LC)

Risk:
Non-venomous and not considered medically dangerous to humans.