Erythrolamprus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: ParaHoxozoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Olfactores
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Sauropsida
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Cladus: Diapsida
Cladus: Neodiapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Cladus: Unidentata, Episquamata
Cladus: Toxicofera
Subordo: Serpentes
Infraordo: Caenophidia
Superfamilia: Colubroidea

Familia: Dipsadidae
Subfamilia: Xenodontinae
Genus: Erythrolamprus
Species (53): E. aenigma – E. aesculapii – E. albertguentheri – E. almadensis – E. andinus – E. atraventer – E. bizona – E. breviceps – E. carajasensis – E. ceii – E. cobella – E. cursor – E. darwinnunezi – E. dorsocorallinus – E. epinephalus – E. festae – E. frenatus – E. guentheri – E. ingeri – E. jaegeri – E. janaleeae – E. juliae – E. macrosomus – E. maryellenae – E. melanotus – E. mertensi – E. miliaris – E. mimus – E. mossoroensis – E. ocellatus – E. oligolepis – E. ornatus – E. perfuscus – E. poecilogyrus – E. pseudocorallus – E. pseudoreginae – E. pyburni – E. pygmaeus – E. reginae – E. rochai – E. sagittifer – E. semiaureus – E. subocularis – E. taeniogaster – E. taeniurus – E. torrenicola – E. trebbaui – E. triscalis – E. typhlus – E. viridis – E. vitti – E. williamsi – E. zweifeli

Erythrolampus Boie, 1826: 981

Type species: Coluber venustissimus Wied-Neuwied, 1821, by monotypy.

Synonyms

Liophis Wagler, 1830: 187 [Synonymized by Zaher et al. (2009: 147), who synonymize the genus Erythrolamprus with Liophis, this taxonomic action is incorrect because Erythrolamprus Boie, 1826 has priority over Liophis Wagler, 1830 fide Curcio, Piacentini & Fernandes (2009: 66), corrected by Grazziotin et al. (2012: 457)]
Type species: Coluber cobella Linnaeus, 1758, by subsequent designation by Fitzinger (1843: 26)
Umbrivaga Roze, 1964: 533 [synonymized by Grazziotin et al. (2012: 450)]
Type species: Umbrivaga mertensi Roze, 1964, by original designation and monotypy.

Erythrolamprus fraseri

References
Primary references

Boie, F. 1826. Generalübersicht der Familien und Gattungen der Ophidier. Isis von Oken 19(10): 981–982. BHL Reference page.
Wagler, J.G. 1830. Natürliches System der Amphibien, mit vorangehender Classification der Säugetiere und Vögel. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. J.G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung: München, Stuttgart, & Tübingen. 354 pp. BHL Reference page.
Roze, J.A. 1964. The snakes of the Leimadophis-Urotheca-Liophis complex from Parque Nacional Henri Pittier (Rancho Grande), Venezuela, with a description of a new genus and species (Reptilia, Colubridae). Senckenbergiana biologica 45(3/5): 533–542. Reference page.
Zaher, H., Grazziotin, F.G., Cadle, J.E., Murphy, R.W., Moura-Leite, J.C. & Bonatto, S.L. 2009. Molecular phylogeny of advanced snakes (Serpentes, Caenophidia) with an emphasis on South American xenodontines: a revised classification and descriptions of new taxa. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 49(11): 115–153. DOI: 10.1590/S0031-10492009001100001 Open access Reference page.
Curcio, F.F., Piacentini, V.Q. & Fernandes, D.S. 2009. On the status of the snake genera Erythrolamprus Boie, Liophis Wagler and Lygophis Fitzinger (Serpentes, Xenodontinae). Zootaxa 2173: 1–66. Abstract & excerpt DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2173.1.7 Paywall Reference page.
Grazziotin, F.G., Zaher, H., Murphy, R.W., Scrocchi, G., Altamirano-Benevides, M.A., Zhang, Y.-P. & Bonatto, S.L. 2012. Molecular phylogeny of the New World Dipsadidae (Serpentes: Colubroidea): a reappraisal. Cladistics 28(5): 437–459. DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2012.00393.x Paywall Reference page.

Additional references

Ascenso, A.C., Costa, J.C.L. & Prudente, A.L.C. 2019. Taxonomic revision of the Erythrolamprus reginae species group, with description of a new species from Guiana Shield (Serpentes: Xenodontinae). Zootaxa 4586(1): 65–97. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4586.1.3 Paywall Reference page.
Murphy, J.C., Braswell, A.L., Charles, S.P., Auguste, R.J., Rivas, G.A., Borzée, A., Lehtinen, R.M. & Jowers, M.J. 2019. A new species of Erythrolamprus from the oceanic island of Tobago (Squamata, Dipsadidae). Zookeys 817: 131–157. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.817.30811 Open access Reference page.
Entiauspe-Neto, O.M., Abegg, A.D., Koch, C., Nuñez, L.P., Azevedo, W.D.S., Moraes, L.J., Tiutenko, A., Bialves, T.S. & Loebmann, D. 2021. A new species of Erythrolamprus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Xenodontini) from the savannas of northern South America. Salamandra 57(2): 196–218. PDF ResearchGate Reference page.
Torres-Carvajal, O., Hinojosa, K.C. & Paucar, D.A. 2024. A New Species of Erythrolamprus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from the Andes of Ecuador. Journal of Herpetology 58(2): 1–11. DOI: 10.1670/2237051 Open access Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2025. Erythrolamprus . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 4 September 2024.

Vernacular names
Deutsch: neotropische Glattnattern
English: False Coral Snakes
русский: псевдокоралловые змеи
українська: несправжні коралові змії

Erythrolamprus is a genus of colubrid snakes native to Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. They include the false coral snakes, which appear to be coral snake mimics.
Classification

The genus Erythrolamprus belongs to the subfamily Dipsadinae (which is sometimes referred to as the family Dipsadidae), belonging to the family Colubridae. Erythrolamprus previously contained just six species, mostly coral snake mimics. However, molecular studies beginning in 2009 determined that Erythrolamprus was not monophyletic, and thus most of the snakes of the genera Liophis, Leimadophis, and Umbrivaga were placed into Erythrolamprus, bringing the number of species up to 50.[1]
Description

Erythrolamprus snakes are usually less than 1.6 m (5.2 ft) in length. They are ground snakes, with lifestyles ranging from fossorial (burrowing) to terrestrial to semi-aquatic, and in habitats ranging from rainforests to savannas to the mountainous páramo, up to 3,500 m (11,500 ft) above sea level.[1]
Species

These species are currently recognized as being valid.[4]

Erythrolamprus aenigma Entiauspe-Neto, Abegg, Koch, Nuñez, Azevedo, Moraes, Tiutenko, Bialves & Loebmann, 2021 – savannah racer snake
Erythrolamprus aesculapii (Linnaeus, 1766) – Aesculapian false coral snake
Erythrolamprus albertguentheri Grazziotin, Zaher, R. Murphy, Scrocchi, Benavides, Zhang & Bonatto, 2012 – Günther's green liophis
Erythrolamprus albiventris (Jan, 1863)
Erythrolamprus almadensis (Wagler, 1824) – Almaden ground snake
Erythrolamprus andinus (Dixon, 1983)
Erythrolamprus atraventer (Dixon & Thomas, 1985) – Dixon's ground snake
Erythrolamprus bizona Jan, 1863 – double-banded false coral snake
Erythrolamprus breviceps (Cope, 1861) – short ground snake
Erythrolamprus carajasensis (da Cunha, Nascimento & Ávila-Pires, 1985)
Erythrolamprus ceii (Dixon, 1991)
Erythrolamprus cobella (Linnaeus, 1758) – mangrove snake
Erythrolamprus cursor (Lacépède, 1789) – Lacépède's ground snake or Martinique ground snake (possibly extinct)
Erythrolamprus dorsocorallinus (Esqueda, Natera, La Marca & Ilija-Fistar, 2007)
Erythrolamprus epinephalus (Cope, 1862) – fire-bellied snake
Erythrolamprus festae (Peracca, 1897) – drab ground snake
Erythrolamprus fraseri Boulenger, 1894
Erythrolamprus frenatus (F. Werner, 1909) – swamp liophis
Erythrolamprus guentheri Garman, 1883 – Günther's false coral snake
Erythrolamprus ingeri (Roze, 1958)
Erythrolamprus jaegeri (Günther, 1858) – Jaeger's ground snake
Erythrolamprus janaleeae (Dixon, 2000)
Erythrolamprus juliae (Cope, 1879) – Julia's ground snake
Erythrolamprus lamonae (Dunn, 1944)
Erythrolamprus macrosomus (Amaral, 1936)
Erythrolamprus maryellenae (Dixon, 1985) – Maryellen's ground snake
Erythrolamprus melanotus (Shaw, 1802) – Shaw's dark ground snake
Erythrolamprus mertensi (Roze, 1964) – Mertens's tropical forest snake
Erythrolamprus miliaris (Linnaeus, 1758) – military ground snake
Erythrolamprus mimus (Cope, 1868) – mimic false coral snake
Erythrolamprus mossoroensis (Hoge & Lima-Verde, 1973)
Erythrolamprus ocellatus W. Peters, 1868 – Tobago false coral snake, red snake
Erythrolamprus oligolepis (Boulenger, 1905)
Erythrolamprus ornatus (Garman, 1887) – Saint Lucia racer, ornate ground snake
†Erythrolamprus perfuscus (Cope, 1862) – tan ground snake, Barbados racer (extinct)
Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus (Wied-Neuwied, 1825)
Erythrolamprus pseudocorallus Roze, 1959 – false coral snake
Erythrolamprus pseudoreginae J. Murphy, Braswell, Charles, Auguste, Rivas, Borzée, Lehtinen & Jowers, 2019 – Tobago stream snake
Erythrolamprus pyburni (Markezich & Dixon, 1979) – Pyburn's tropical forest snake
Erythrolamprus pygmaeus (Cope, 1868) – Amazon tropical forest snake
Erythrolamprus reginae (Linnaeus, 1758) – royal ground snake
Erythrolamprus rochai Ascenso, Costa & Prudente, 2019
Erythrolamprus sagittifer (Jan, 1863) – arrow ground snake
Erythrolamprus semiaureus (Cope, 1862)
Erythrolamprus subocularis (Boulenger, 1902)
Erythrolamprus taeniogaster (Jan, 1866)
Erythrolamprus taeniurus (Tschudi, 1845) – thin ground snake
Erythrolamprus torrenicola (Donnelly & C. Myers, 1991) – velvety swamp snake
Erythrolamprus trebbaui (Roze, 1958)
Erythrolamprus triscalis (Linnaeus, 1758) – three-scaled ground snake
Erythrolamprus typhlus (Linnaeus, 1758) – blind ground snake, velvet swamp snake
Erythrolamprus viridis (Günther, 1862) – crown ground snake
Erythrolamprus vitti (Dixon, 2000)
Erythrolamprus williamsi (Roze, 1958) – Williams' ground snake
Erythrolamprus zweifeli (Roze, 1959) – braided ground snake, Zweifel's ground snake

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Erythrolamprus.
Mimicry

The brightly colored, ringed patterns of some of the snakes of the genus Erythrolamprus resemble those of sympatric coral snakes of the genus Micrurus, and it has been suggested that this is due to mimicry. Whether this is classical Batesian mimicry, classical Müllerian mimicry, a modified form of Müllerian mimicry, or no mimicry at all, remains to be proven.[5]
Cited references

Murphy, John C.; Braswell, Alvin L.; Charles, Stevland P.; Auguste, Renoir J.; Rivas, Gilson A.; Borzée, Amaël; Lehtinen, Richard M.; Jowers, Michael J. (15 Jan 2019). "A new species of Erythrolamprus from the oceanic island of Tobago (Squamata, Dipsadidae)". ZooKeys (817): 131–157. doi:10.3897/zookeys.817.30811.
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. (Genus Erythrolamprus, pp. 199-200).
Genus Erythrolamprus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
"Erythrolamprus ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 13 August 2007.

Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Mimicry in Erythrolamprus, p. 159).