Pliocercus elapoides, also known commonly as the variegated false coral snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to southern North America and northern Central America. There are four recognized subspecies.
| Pliocercus elapoides | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Genus: | Pliocercus |
| Species: | P. elapoides
|
| Binomial name | |
| Pliocercus elapoides Cope, 1860
| |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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Geographic range edit
P. elapoides is found in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and southeastern Mexico.[1][2]
Habitat edit
Description edit
Resembling a venomous coral snake, P. elapoides has a dorsal color pattern of red, black, and yellow rings. The red scales are tipped with black.[2]
Behavior edit
P. elapoides is nocturnal, terrestrial and semi-fossorial.[1]
Reproduction edit
Subspecies edit
Four subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]
- Pliocercus elapoides aequalis Salvin, 1861
- Pliocercus elapoides diastema (Bocourt, 1886)
- Pliocercus elapoides elapoides Cope, 1860
- Pliocercus elapoides occidentalis H.M. Smith & Landy, 1965
Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Pliocercus.
References edit
- ^ a b c d Lee, J.; Calderón Mandujano, R.; Lopez-Luna, M.A.; Luque, I.; Ariano, D. (2013). "Pliocercus elapoides". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T63877A3130570. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Species Pliocercus elapoides at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading edit
- Akcali, Christopher K. (2018). "Pliocercus elapoides (Variegated False Coralsnake). Defensive Behavior". Herpetological Review 49 (2): 351–352.
- Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I–XX. (Urotheca elapoides, new combination, pp. 182–183).
- Carbajal-Márquez, Rubén A.; Quintero-Díaz, Gustavo E.; González-Saucedo, Zaira Y.; Martínez-de la Vega, Guillermo (2013). "Pliocercus elapoides (Variegated False Coralsnake). Reproduction / Clutch Size". Herpetological Review 44 (4): 697.
- Cope ED (1860). "Catalogue of the Colubridæ in the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with notes and descriptions of new species. Part 2". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 12: 241–266. (Pliocercus elapoides, new species, pp. 253–254).
- Díaz-García, Juan Manuel; Kelly-Hernández, Alfonso; Vásquez-Cruz, Víctor (2022). "Depredación de Rheohyla miotympanum (Anura: Hylidae) por Pliocercus elapoides (Squamata: Colubridae) en el centro de Veracruz ". Revista Latinoamericana de Herpetología 5 (3): 1–4. (in Spanish).
- Smith HM, Chiszar D (2001). "Pliocercus elapoides Cope, Variegated False Coral Snake". Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (739): 1–11.
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