Micrurus hemprichii

Micrurus hemprichii, commonly known as Hemprichi's coral snake, is a species of venomous coral snake in the family Elapidae from South America.[1][2]

Micrurus hemprichii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Micrurus
Species:
M. hemprichii
Binomial name
Micrurus hemprichii
(Jan, 1858)
Synonyms[2]
  • Elaps hemprichii
    Jan, 1858
  • Micrurus hemprichii
    — Amaral, 1929

Etymology

The specific name, hemprichii, is in honor of German naturalist Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich.[3]

Habitat

Hemprichi's coral snake occurs in forests at elevations below 1,000 m (3,300 ft), including lower montane wet forest, gallery forest, and primary and secondary rain forest. It is a cryptic species living in leaf litter of the forest floor.[1]

Diet

Hemprichi's coral snake feeds heavily on velvet worms,[4] but also on small snakes and amphisbaenids.[1]

Geographic range

M. hemprichii is found in the upper Amazon Basin, Guiana Highlands, and upper Orinoco Basin in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Guyana, Surinam, and French Guiana.[1][2]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid.[2]

  • Micrurus hemprichii hemprichii (Jan, 1858)
  • Micrurus hemprichii ortoni Schmidt, 1953

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Micrurus.

References
  1. Ines Hladki, A.; Ramírez Pinilla, M.; Renjifo, J.; Urbina, N.; Valencia, J.; Gagliardi, G.; Catenazzi, A.; Nogueira, C.; Schargel, W.; Rivas, G. (2019). "Micrurus hemprichii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T15202882A15202891. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T15202882A15202891.en. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  2. Micrurus hemprichii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 16 February 2016.
  3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Micrurus hemprichii, pp. 120).
  4. Monge Nájera J, Barrientos Z, Aguilar F (1993). "Behavior of Epiperipatus biolleyi (Onychophora: Peripatidae) under laboratory conditions". Revista de Biologica Tropical. 41 (3): 689–696.

Further reading
  • Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Elaps hemprichii, p. 421).
  • Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Micrurus hemprichii, p. 115).
  • Jan [G] (1858). "Plan d'une Iconographie descriptive des Ophidiens et Description sommaire de nouvelles espèces de Serpents ". Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée, Paris, 2e Série [Series 2] 10: 438-449, 514-527. (Elaps hemprichii, new species, pp. 523–524). (in French).
  • Schmidt KP (1953). "Hemprich's Coral Snake Micrurus hemprichi [sic]". Fieldiana Zool. 34 (13): 165-170. (Micrurus hemprichi [sic] ortoni, new subspecies, pp. 166–168).
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