Micrurus hippocrepis (PETERS, 1862)

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Higher Taxa	Elapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Belize coral snake, Mayan Coral Snake
Synonym	Elaps hippocrepis PETERS 1862 Micrurus hippocrepis — STAFFORD 2000 Micrurus affinis hippocrepis — SCHMIDT 1936 Micrurus hippocrepis — WELCH 1994: 85 Micrurus hippocrepis — LEE 2000: 358 Micrurus hippocrepis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 447 Micrurus hippocrespis — SILVA et al. 2016: 52 (in error) Micrurus apiatus — REYES-VELASCO et al. 2020
Distribution	Belize, Guatemala Type locality: Santo Thomas de Guatemala” [= Puerto Matias de Galvez, Guatemala]
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Holotype: ZMB 4065
Diagnosis	Additional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1763 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Venomous! Color plate 77 in VILLA et al. 1988. Synonymy: Reyes-Velasco et al. 2020 considered M. hippocrepis as a synonym of M. apiatus (formerly M. diastema apiatus). However, they had only one DNA sample (from a topotype), without comments on their diagnostic characters.
Etymology	Greek from hippus meaning horse and crepis meaning a boot or sandal, apparently alluding to the horseshoe type of head coloration, formed by the white parietal band and black nostril band, reduced on the supralabials, that somewhat reminds one of a horse-shoe.
References	Campbell, J.A. 1998. Amphibians and reptiles of northern Guatemala, the Yucatán, and Belize. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, xiii + 380 pp. - get paper here Campbell, J.A. & Lamar, W.W. 1989. The Venomous Reptiles of Latin America. Comstock Publishing/Cornell University Press, Ithaca Gower, D.; Garrett, K. & Stafford, P. 2012. Snakes. Firefly Books, Buffalo, NY,<br />144 p.. Lee, J. C. 2000. A field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of the Maya world. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, Lee, J.C. 1996. The amphibians and reptiles of the Yucatán Peninsula. Comstock, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 500 pp. Lillywhite, H.B. 2022. Discovering snakes in wild places. ECO Publishing, Rodeo, NM, 164 pp. - get paper here Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1861. Über neue Schlangen des Königl. zoologischen Museums: Typhlops striolatus, Geophidium dubium, Streptophorus (Ninia) maculatus, Elaps hippocrepis. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1861 (October): 922-925 - get paper here Reyes-Velasco, J., Adams, R. H., Boissinot, S., Parkinson, C. L., Campbell, J. A., Castoe, T. A. and Smith, E. N. 2020. Genome-wide SNPs clarify lineage diversity confused by coloration in coralsnakes of the Micrurus diastema species complex (Serpentes: Elapidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 147: 106770 - get paper here 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 Stafford, P.J. 2000. The distributional status of the coral snake Micrurus nigrocinctus (Serpentes: elapidae) in Belize and eastern Guatemala. Herpetological Review 31 (2): 78-82 - get paper here Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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