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Sinomicrurus macclellandi (REINHARDT, 1844)

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Higher TaxaElapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesSinomicrurus macclellandi macclellandi (REINHARDT 1844)
Sinomicrurus macclellandi nigriventer (WALL 1908)
Sinomicrurus macclellandi univirgatus (GÜNTHER 1858) 
Common NamesE: MacClelland’s Coral Snake
G: MacClellands Korallenotter
Chinese: 中华珊瑚蛇
E: Black-bellied Coral Snake [nigriventer] 
SynonymElaps macclellandi REINHARDT 1844: 532
Elaps personatus BLYTH 1855 (fide SMITH 1943)
Callophis macclellandii — ANDERSON 1871: 189
Calliophis macclellandii — STEJNEGER 1907: 391
Callophis maclellandii [sic] — WALL 1908: 780
Callophis macclellandi — WALL 1908: 36
Callophis macclellandi (var. typica) — VENNING 1910: 775
Calliophis swinhoei VAN DENBURGH 1912
Callophis [sic] formosensis THOMPSON 1912
Callophis macclellandi — SMITH 1943: 423
Hemibungarus macclellandi — GOLAY et al. 1993
Micrurus macclellandi — WELCH 1994: 85
Calliophis macclellandii — ZUG & MITCHELL 1995
Calliophis macclellandi — COX et al. 1998: 32
Sinomicrurus macclellandi — SLOWINSKI, BOUNDY & LAWSON 2001
Hemibungarus macclellandii — GRUBER in SCHLEICH & KÄSTLE 2002
Hemibungarus macclellandii — ORLOV et al. 2003
Sinomicrurus macclellandi — LEVITON et al. 2003
Sinomicrurus macclellandi — ZIEGLER et al. 2007
Sinomicrurus macclellandi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 676
Sinomicrurus macclellandi — SMART et al. 2021

Sinomicrurus macclellandi macclellandii (REINHARDT 1844)
Elaps macclellandii REINHARDT 1844
Micrurus macclellandi macclellandi — WELCH 1994: 85
Hemibungarus macclellandi macclellandi — CHAN-ARD et al. 1999: 209
Calliophis macclellandi macclellandi — MURTHY 2010

Sinomicrurus macclellandi nigriventer (WALL 1908)
Calliophis macclellandi nigriventer WALL 1908: 266
Sinomicrurus nigriventer — MIRZA et al. 2020
Calliophis macclellandi — SMART et al. 2021

Sinomicrurus macclellandi univirgatus (GÜNTHER 1858)
Elaps univirgatus GÜNTHER 1858: 231
Calliophis maclellandi univirgatus — KRAMER 1977
Micrurus macclellandi univirgatus — WELCH 1994: 87
Sinomicrurus macclellandi univirgatus — NGUYEN et al. 2009 
DistributionIndia (Assam, Sikkim, Darjeeling; Arunachal Pradesh [A. Captain, pers. comm.], Mizoram, Nagaland), Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
N Myanmar (= Burma), Thailand, Vietnam,
China (incl. Hong Kong, Hainan, north to Gansu and Shaanxi, Fujian), Taiwan

Type locality: Jaipur, Assam, India (= Jaypor, Dibrugarh District, Assam

univirgatus: Nepal, India (Sikkim), 1000-2000 m elevation

nigriventer: India (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand); Type locality: “Kasauli”  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: Unknown (fide LEVITON et al. 2003), ZMUC 65399 (H. V. Kristensen, pers. comm.)
Holotype: CAS 18864 [formosensis]
Holotype: BNHS 342, male (fide Smart et al. 2021); BMNH 1948.1.7.7 (fide Mirza et al. 2020), BMNH 1946.1.17.82 (fide BMNH catalogue), but see Smart et al. 2021 for a discussion [nigriventer]
Syntypes: BMNH 1946.1.17.84, BMNH 1946.1.17.90, collected by B.H. Hodgson [univirgatus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (Sinomicrurus). Asian coral snakes with the tollowing synapomorphies: well-developed medial fold bordering the basal pocket of the hemipenis and protuberant sclerified tail tip used defensively. Additionally, Sinomicrurus can be distinguished from other Asian coral snakes by lacking the postorbital bone, having a bipartite AES [adductor mandibulae externus superficialis] muscle origin (dorsal origin on parietal bone and ventral origin on anterior venom gland), and a strongly bifurcated hemipenis, ornamented only with spines and possessing the basal pocket. (Slowinski et al. 2001).


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CommentVenomous!

Conservation: Calliophis macclellandi iwasakii is classified as “near threatened” in Japan (Ota 2000).

Type species: Elaps macclellandii Reinhardt 1844 is the type species of the genus Sinomicrurus SLOWINSKI, BOUNDY & LAWSON 2001.

Synonymy: for a more extensive and commented synonymy see Smart et al. 2021: 2238. Kaiser et al. 2013 considered the generic name Funkelapidus Hoser 2012 invalid and rejected its use instead of Sinomicrurus. Sinomicrurus nigriventer is embedded within a clade comprising S. peinani, but not S. macclellandi s. l., with a genetic distance of 7–16% from its congeners, hence Mirza et al. 2020 elevated it to full species. However, Smart et al. 2021 argued that molecular data does not support this elevastion and synonymize nigriventer with macclellandi. Given the small number of specimens apparently known from nigriventer, there may not be enough data to fully support either position, so we treate nigriventer as subspecies for the time being. Calliophis macclellandii var. gorei WALL 1909 has been removed from the synonymy of macclellandii and elevated to full species by Biakzuala et al. 2023.

Subgenera: Wood et al. (2020) established more subgeneric clade names than there are species within Sinomicrurus, hence we do not use them here: Taiwanosinomicrurus, Ravdotosinomicrurus, Ryukyusinomicrurus, Nanyuesinomicrurus, Zonisinomicrurus, Microsinomicrurus, Imalaiosinomicrurus, Megalosinomicrurus, but see Smart et al. 2021: 2259ff for a discussion and definitions.

Subspecies: Sinomicrurus macclellandi iwasakii (MAKI 1935) and Sinomicrurus macclellandi swinhoei VAN DENBURGH 1912 have been elevated to full species by Smart et al. 2021.

NCBI taxonomy ID: 2731268 [nigriventer]

Distribution: for a map of localities see Smart et al. 2021: 2214 (Fig. 1). Note that Japanese populations have been assigned to a different species, S. iwasaki. 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. John MacClelland (1805-1875), who worked for the East India Company.

The genus was named after “sino-”, Greek for "pertaining to China," and Wagler's (1824) Micrurus. 
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