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Micrurus alleni SCHMIDT, 1936

IUCN Red List - Micrurus alleni - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaElapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Arrow-headed coral snake, Allen's Coral Snake
G: Pfeilkopf-Korallenschlange, Allens Korallenotter
S: Coral Cabeza Flecha 
SynonymMicrurus alleni alleni SCHMIDT 1936
Micrurus nigricinctus alleni SCHMIDT 1936
Micrurus nigrocinctus yatesi DUNN 1942
Micrurus alleni richardi TAYLOR 1951
Micrurus yatesi TAYLOR 1954
Micrurus nigricinctus yatesi — SMITH 1958
Micrurus alleni alleni — ROZE 1967: 5
Micrurus alleni yatesi — ROZE 1967: 6
Micrurus alleni yatesi — WELCH 1994: 77
Micrurus alleni alleni — WELCH 1994: 77
Micrurus alleni — SAVAGE 2002
Micrurus alleni — WALLACH et al. 2014: 441
Micrurus alleni yatesi — PIRES et al. 2021 
DistributionE Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras

alleni: E Nicaragua south along the Atlantic drainage to N Panama; Type locality: Rio Mico, seven miles above Rama, Siquia District, Nicaragua.

richardi: Costa Rica; Type locality: Los Diamantes, 2 km south of Guapiles, Costa Rica.

yatesi: Pacific southern Costa Rica and adjacent N Panama; Type locality: Farm Two, Chiriqui Land Co., near Puerto Armuelles, Chiriqui, Panama.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: UMMZ 79794
Holotype: KU 25189, female [richardi]
Holotype: ANSP 22564 [yatesi] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: An ally of Micrurus n. nigrocinctus and M. n. divaricatus, with a much higher number of ventrals in both sexes, very wide yellow bands, and a backward projection of the black marking of the head. 
CommentVenomous!

Subspecies: Roze 1996: 139 does not list any subspecies and includes richardi and yatesi in M. alleni.

Subspecies: ROZE 1996 did not recognize any subspecies of M. alleni. 
EtymologyNamed after Morrow J. Allen who collected the holotype as well as many other herpetological specimens in eastern Nicaragua. The name richardi was dedicated to Richard C. Taylor, brother of Edward Taylor, who helped to collect specimens in Costa Rica. The name yatesi is dedicated to Thomas Yates who obtained and sent specimens from Panama to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 
References
  • Anderson, C V & Liebl, A; 2019. Micrurus alleni (Allen’s Coralsnake) Diet. Herpetological Review 50 (1): 162-163 - get paper here
  • Arias, Erick and Gerardo Chaves. 2013. Dermophis glandulosus predation by Micrurus alleni. Herpetological Review 44 (4): 657-658 - get paper here
  • Arias, Erick; Federico Bolaños 2014. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of San Isidro de Dota, Reserva Forestal Los Santos, Costa Rica. Check List 10 (4): 870-877 - get paper here
  • Barquero-González, J.P., Stice, T.L., Gómez, G., & Monge-Nájera, J. 2020. Are tropical reptiles really declining? A six-year survey of snakes in a tropical coastal rainforest: role of prey and environment. Revista de Biología Tropical, 68(1): 336-343; doi:10.20944/preprints201908.0123.v1 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Campbell, J.A. & Lamar, W.W. 1989. The Venomous Reptiles of Latin America. Comstock Publishing/Cornell University Press, Ithaca
  • Cove, M. V., et al. 2017. Micrurus alleni (Allen's Coral Snake) Predation and scavenging. Herpetological Review 48 (2): 453-454 - get paper here
  • Dunn, Emmett Reid 1942. New or Noteworthy Snakes from Panama. Notulae Naturae 108:1-8.
  • Fuentes, Rogemif; Aschcroft, Jesse; Erick Barría, Helio Quintero-Arrieta, Alexis Baules, Abel Batista, Eduardo Zambrano, Marcos Ponce 2023. Herpetological diversity in forests of Portobelo National Park, Colón Biological Corridor, Panama. Reptiles & Amphibians 30 (1): e18434 - get paper here
  • Hilje B, Chaves G, Klank J, Timmerman F, Feltham J, Gillingwater S, Piraino T, Rojas E 2020. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Tirimbina Biological Reserve: a baseline for conservation, research and environmental education in a lowland tropical wet forest in Costa Rica. Check List 16(6): 1633-1655 - get paper here
  • Huertas, Jose Alberto and Alejandro Solorzano. 2014. Micrurus alleni. Predation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (1): 160-161 - get paper here
  • McCranie J R 2011. The snakes of Honduras. SSAR, Salt Lake City, 725 pp.
  • McCranie, J.R. 1993. Additions to the Herpetofauna of Honduras. Carib. J. Sci. 29 (3/4): 254-25
  • McCranie, James R. 2015. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with additions, comments on taxonomy, some recent taxonomic decisions, and areas of further studies needed. Zootaxa 3931 (3): 352–386 - get paper here
  • Pires, Matheus Godoy; Darlan Tavares Feitosa, Felipe G. Grazziotin, Ana Lúcia da Costa Prudente, Nelson Jorge da Silva, Jr., and Hussam Zaher 2021. CHAPTER 2. HISTORICAL AND TAXONOMIC RELEVANCE OF COLUBER LEMNISCATUS LINNAEUS, 1758. In: Nelson Jorge da Silva Jr. et al. (eds.) Advances in Coralsnake Biology. Eagle Mountain Publishing, pp. 37-96 - get paper here
  • Porras, L.W. & Solórzano, A. 2006. Costa Rica’s venomous snakes. Reptilia (GB) (48): 11-17 - get paper here
  • Porras, L.W. & Solórzano, A. 2006. Die Schlangen Costa Ricas. Reptilia (Münster) 11 (61): 20-27 - get paper here
  • Reid, F A; Westeen, E P & Martinez-Fonseca, J G; 2019. Micrurus alleni (Allen’s Coralsnake) Diet. Herpetological Review 50 (3): 597 - get paper here
  • Roze, J. A. 1983. New World coral snakes (Elapidae): a taxonomic and biological summary. Mem. Inst. Butantan 46: 305-338 [1982] - get paper here
  • Roze, J. A. 1996. Coral Snakes of the Americas. Krieger, Malabar, Florida
  • Roze, Jánis A 1967. A checklist of the New World venomous Coral Snakes (Elapidae), with descriptions of new forms. American Museum Novitates (2287): 1-60 - get paper here
  • Santos-Barrera, Georgina; Jesus Pacheco, Fernando Mendoza-Quijano, Federico Bolaños,<br />Gerardo Cháves , Gretchen C. Daily, Paul R. Ehrlich & Gerardo Ceballos 2008. Diversity, natural history and conservation of amphibians and reptiles from the San Vito Region, southwestern Costa Rica. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (2): 755-778 - get paper here
  • Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna Between Two Continents, Between Two Seas. University of Chicago Press, 934 pp. [review in Copeia 2003 (1): 205]
  • Schmidt, K. P. 1936. Notes on Central American and Mexican coral snakes. Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser. 20: 205-216. - get paper here
  • Silva Jr, Nelson Jorge da; Marcus Augusto Buononato & Darlan Tavares Feitosa 2016. AS COBRAS-CORAIS DO NOVO MUNDO. In: Silva (ed) Cobras corais do Brasil. Goiânia, pp. 41-69
  • Solís, J. M., L. D. Wilson, and J. H. Townsend. 2014. An updated list of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with comments on their nomenclature. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1: 123–144 - get paper here
  • Solorzano, A. 2004. Serpientes de Costa Rica - Snakes of Costa Rica. Editorial INBio, Costa Rica, 792 pp.
  • Spangler, M. 2015. Chapter 12 - Amphibians and Reptiles at the Ometepe and La Suerte Field Sites: Toward an Overview of the Evolution, Diversity, and Natural History of Central America’s Herpetofauna. In: F. Huettmann (ed.), Central American Biodiversity. Springer, pp. 273-313 - get paper here
  • Sunyer, Javier 2014. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (2): 186–202. - get paper here
  • Sunyer, Javier & José́ Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca 2023. An updated country checklist to the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. REVISTA NICARAGÜENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD (100): 1-25 - get paper here
  • Villa,J. 1984. The venomous snakes of Nicaragua. Milwaukee Publ. Mus. Contrib. Biol. & Geol. No. 59, 41 pp. - get paper here
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  • Wilson, Larry David and James R. McCranie 2002. Update on the list of reptiles know from Honduras. Herpetological Review 33 (2):90-94 - get paper here
 
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