Reptiles · Squamata · Elapidae

Painted Coral Snake

Micrurus corallinus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The painted coral snake is an elapid of the Atlantic Forest, ringed in red and black with fine white rings. It is a predator specialising in other snakes and in amphisbaenians, which it hunts beneath the leaf litter. Its pattern is the model for a complex system of mimicry involving dozens of harmless species of the Atlantic forest.

Size

60 cm – 1 m

Lifespan

12 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

RainforestTemperate forestCarnivore Nocturnal Solitary Reptile Rainforest Temperate forest

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Fun facts

It is the model for an enormous mimicry system: dozens of harmless snakes of the Atlantic Forest copy its ringed pattern with varying degrees of fidelity, and experiments with artificial prey have shown that predators avoid any animal ringed in red and black.
It eats mainly other snakes and amphisbaenians, elongated prey that it swallows whole with a working of the jaws that can go on for more than an hour.
It is active at dusk and by night and spends the day under logs and leaf litter, so most encounters happen when the forest floor is disturbed.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (reptile)
Habitat & environment: Ground and leaf litter of the Atlantic Forest and rainforest of south-eastern Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay
Sexual maturity: 2 years
Gestation / incubation: 75 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 6 eggs

Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/