Simoselaps

Simoselaps
Simoselaps fasciolatus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Subfamily:	Hydrophiinae
Genus:	Simoselaps Jan, 1859

Simoselaps, or Australian coral snakes, is a genus composed of 12 species of venomous elapid snakes.

Geographic range

Species of the genus Simoselaps are found throughout Australia.

Description

Australian coral snakes are small snakes. They have smooth and polished scales, shovel-shaped snouts, and are brightly marked with bands or annuli.

Habitat and behavior

Species of Simoselaps are found mainly in arid regions. They are burrowing snakes which move beneath the surface through loose sand or soil. At night they come to the surface to feed on small lizards and reptile eggs.

Reproduction

All species of Australian coral snakes are oviparous and lay clutches of three to five eggs.

Simoselaps fasciolatus

Species

Species	Authority	Subsp.	Common name	Geographic range
S. anomalus	(Sternfeld, 1919)	None	northern desert banded snake	Australia (Northern Territory, South and Western Australia)
S. approximans	(Glauert, 1954)	None	north-western shovel-nosed snake	Western Australia
S. australis	(Krefft, 1864)	None	Australian coral snake	South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria
S. bertholdi	(Jan, 1864)	None	desert banded snake	Australia
S. calonotus	(A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854)	None	black-striped burrowing snake	Western Australia
S. fasciolatus	(Günther, 1872)	2	narrow-banded shovel-nosed snake	South and Western Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory and Queensland
S. incinctus	(Storr, 1968)	None	unbanded shovel-nosed snake	Australia: Northern Territory and Queensland
S. littoralis	(Storr, 1968)	None	west-coast banded snake	Western Australia
S. minimus	(Worrell, 1960)	None	Dampierland burrowing snake	Western Australia
S. morrisi	Horner, 1998	None	Arnhem shovel-nosed snake[1]	Australia:Northern Territory
S. roperi	(Kinghorn, 1931)	None	northern shovel-nosed snake	Western Australia, Kimberley Region and Northern Territory
S. semifasciatus	(Günther, 1863)	3	southern shovel-nosed snake, half-girdled snake	Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland

Several of the above species are sometimes placed in the genera Brachyurophis or Neelaps.

References

1. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Simoselaps morrisi, p. 183).

Further reading

• Cogger HG (2000). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Sixth Edition. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Publishing. 808 pp.
• Horner P (1998). "Simoselaps morrisi sp. nov. (Elapidae), a new species of snake of the Northern Territory". The Beagle 14: 63–70.
• Jan [G] (1859). "Plan d'une Iconographie descriptive des Ophidiens et Description sommaire de nouvelles espèces de Serpents ". Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Apliquée, Paris, Series 2, 11: 122–130. (Simoselaps, new subgenus, p. 123). (in French).
• Storr GM (1978). "Taxonomic notes on the reptiles of the Shark Bay region, Western Australia". Records of the Western Australian Museum 6 (3): 303–318.

External links

• Genus Brachyurophis at The Reptile Database
• Genus Simoselaps at The Reptile Database
• "Simoselaps". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.