Erythrolamprus
Encyclopedia
Erythrolamprus is a genus of colubrid snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

s known as coral snake mimics, native to Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, and the northern part of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. Six species are currently recognized.
  • Erythrolamprus aesculapii
    Erythrolamprus aesculapii
    Erythrolamprus aesculapii, the False Coral, is a snake found in Amazonian South America and on the island of Trinidad . It feeds mainly on other snakes and is often found in the leaf litter or burrowing in the soil in rain forests. This snake is mildly venomous...

     (Linnaeus, 1766) -- False Coral Snake
  • Erythrolamprus bizona
    Erythrolamprus bizona
    Erythrolamprus bizona, the False Coral is a snake which is found in Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela and on the island of Trinidad . Similar in pattern to a coral snake, this species probably gains protection through mimicry...

     Jan
    Giorgio Jan
    Giorgio Jan was an Italian taxonomist, zoologist, botanist, herpetologist, and writer. He is also known as Georg Jan or Georges Jan....

    , 1863
  • Erythrolamprus guentheri Garman, 1883
  • Erythrolamprus mimus (Cope
    Edward Drinker Cope
    Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...

    , 1868)
  • Erythrolamprus ocellatus
    Erythrolamprus ocellatus
    Erythrolamprus ocellatus, the Tobago False Coral is a snake which is endemic to the island of Tobago . Unlike other Erythrolapus species, E. ocellatus is not sympatric with coral snakes and has a spotted rather than a banded pattern. It probably feeds on other snakes.-References:...

     Peters
    Wilhelm Peters
    Wilhelm Karl Hartwich Peters was a German naturalist and explorer.He was assistant to Johannes Peter Müller and later curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum. In September 1842 he travelled to Mozambique via Angola. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens...

    , 1868 -- False Coral Snake
  • Erythrolamprus pseudocorallus Roze
    Janis Roze
    Janis A. Roze, Ph.D., born in Latvia, is a herpetologist and Professor of Biology Emeritus of City College and Graduate School of the City University of New York. He was professionally associated with the American Museum of Natural History and the United Nations...

    , 1959
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