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Micrurus hemprichii (JAN, 1858)

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Higher TaxaElapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: (Eastern) Worm-eating coral snake, Hemprich's Coral Snake
Portuguese: Cobra-Coral, Cobra-Coral-Escura, Coral-Verdadeira 
SynonymElaps hemprichii JAN 1858: 523
Micrurus hemprichii — AMARAL 1929: 230
Micrurus hemprichii hemprichii — SCHMIDT 1953: 166
Micrurus hemprichii hemprichii — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 210
Micrurus hemprichi hemprichi — GASC & RODRIGUES 1980
Micrurus hemprichii hemprichii — GORZULA & SEÑARIS 1999
Micrurus hemprichii — KORNACKER 1999: 153
Micrurus hemprichii — WHITHWORTH & BEIRNE 2011
Micrurus hemprichii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 447
Micrurus hemprichii — VALENCIA et al. 2016
Micrurus hemprichii — BERNARDE et al. 2018
Micrurus hemprichii — GUEDES et al. 2023 
DistributionE Colombia, S Venezuela, the Guianas, NE Brazil

Type locality: Colombia.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: MSNM, sex unknown, destroyed in World War II) and an unknown locality (NHMW = NMW, status unknown). Schmidt (1953a) doubts that one of the types could have come from Colombia and proposes "vicinity of Bartica, British Guiana" as the new type locality. However, Roze (1955) argues that the original type locality may have been correct, and he reports a specimen from only a few kilometers of the Colombian border in Venezuela. Boulenger, 1896:421; Boulenger, 1898a: 131 (cited from HARVEY et al. 2003). 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1423 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy partly after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970. Micrurus hemprichii rondonianus ROZE & DA SILVA 1990 was synonymized with Micrurus hemprichii ortoni by Silva 1993 and reduced to subspecies by ROZE 1994. M. h. rondonianus appears to be a melanistic form (ROZE 1994). Silva Jr et al. (2016) recognized only two subspecies (M. h. hemprichii and M. h. ortoni), considering M. h. rondonianus a junior synonym of M. h. ortoni. Micrurus hemprichii ortoni SCHMIDT 1953 is now considered as a valid species.

Distribution: see maps in Bernarde et al. 2018: 256 (Fig. 6), Nogueira et al. 2019, Paine & Farfan 2020. 
EtymologyNamed after Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich (1796-1825), German naturalist. 
References
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