''Sinomicrurus macclellandi'', commonly known as MacClelland's coral snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to southern and eastern Asia.

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''macclellandi'', is in honor of John McClelland, a physician and naturalist, who worked for the East India Company.

Description

''S. macclellandi'' is a small snake, about in total length (including tail), and has a thin body. Dorsally, it is reddish-brown, with thin, black cross bars, and its belly is creamy white. The head is small, round and black in color, with a broad, creamy white transverse band, and black outlines at the middle of the head. The dorsal scales on the body are smooth, and they are arranged, at midbody, in 13 parallel longitudinal rows.

Geographic range

''S. macclellandi'' is found in northern and northeastern India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, northern

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, Thailand, Vietnam, central and southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(including Hong Kong, Hainan, north to Gansu and Shaanxi), Taiwan, and Ryukyu Islands (Japan). It is also found in

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

Subspecies

Three

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognized, including the

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

: *''Sinomicrurus macclellandi macclellandi'' *''Sinomicrurus macclellandi nigriventer'' – India ( Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand) *''Sinomicrurus macclellandi univirgatus'' – Nepal, India ( Sikkim

Behavior and habitat

''S. macclellandi'' is mainly

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

and terrestrial. It occurs in forest litter, hillside, and lowland. It is often found hiding under leaves. Although this is a venomous species, it is quite docile and not likely to strike actively.

Diet

''S. macclellandi'' preys on small

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s, such as

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

s and snakes.

Venom

Like other elapids, ''S. macclellandi'' possesses a potent neurotoxic venom, which is capable of killing a person. Bite symptoms include numbness of lips and difficulty of speech and breathing, followed by blurred vision. Severe bite victims may die of instant heart failure, although there have been only a few human deaths recorded in Thailand.

Reproduction

''S. macclellandi'' is an

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

species. Mature females lay clutches of 6–14 eggs. Das, Indraneil (2002). ''A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India''. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. (''Sinomicrurus macclellandi'', p. 52).

References

* Boulenger GA (1896). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), ...'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. ("''Callophis'' ic''macclellandii'' ic, pp. 398–399). * Reinhardt JT (1844). "Description of a new species of venomous snake, ''Elaps macclellandi'' ". ''Calcutta J. Nat. Hist.'' 4: 532-534. *Reinhardt JT (1861). "''Herpetologiske Middelelser. II. Beskrivelser af nogle nye til Calamariernes Familie henhörende Slänger'' ". ''Vidensk. Meddel. Naturhist. Foren. Kjöbenhavn'' 2

860 __NOTOC__ Year 860 ( DCCCLX) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * June 18 – Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of about 200 Rus' vessel ...

229-250. (in Danish). * Slowinski, Joseph B.; Boundy, Jeff; Lawson, R. (2001). "The phylogenetic relationships of Asian coral snakes (Elapidae: ''Calliophis'' and ''Maticora'') based on morphological and molecular characters". ''Herpetologica'' 57 (2): 233-245. * Smith MA (1943). ''The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes.'' London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. ("''Callophis'' ic''macclellandi'' ", pp. 423–425, Figure 135). *Eye on Nature Series (2006). "Tracking the snake shadow: terrestrial viper illustrations". Country Parks Cosmos Books Ltd. (in Chinese, a field guide to the venomous land snakes in Hong Kong) .

External links

''Calliophis macclellandi''
at Living Hazards Database. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinomicrurus Macclellandi macclellandi Snakes of Asia Reptiles of Bangladesh Reptiles of Bhutan Snakes of China Reptiles of India Reptiles of Japan Reptiles of Myanmar Reptiles of Nepal Reptiles of Taiwan Reptiles of Thailand Snakes of Vietnam Fauna of the Ryukyu Islands Taxa named by Johannes Theodor Reinhardt Reptiles described in 1844