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Concept
Coral snake
Summary
Coral snakes are a large group of elapid snakes that can be divided into two distinct groups, the Old World coral snakes and New World coral snakes. There are 16 species of Old World coral snakes, in three genera (Calliophis, Hemibungarus, and Sinomicrurus), and over 65 recognized species of New World coral snakes, in two genera (Micruroides and Micrurus). Genetic studies have found that the most basal lineages have origins in Asia, suggesting that the group originated in the Old World. While new world species of both genera are venomous, their bites are seldom lethal; only two confirmed fatalities have been documented in the past 100 years from the genus Micrurus. Meanwhile, snakes of the genus Micruroides have never caused a medically significant bite.
Experts now recognize that certain coloration patterns and common mnemonics—such as the phrase “Red touch yellow, kill a fellow; red touch black, friend of Jack,” which people sometimes use to distinguish between the venomous coral snake and the non-venomous milksnake—are not consistent enough to be trustworthy. While any snake exhibiting the coral snake's color and/or banding pattern in the southeastern United States will almost certainly, in fact, be a coral snake, there are coral snakes in other parts of the world which are colored differently.
Coral snakes in the United States are most notable for their red, yellow/white, and black-colored banding. However, several nonvenomous species in the U.S. have similar (though not identical) bandings, including the two scarlet snake species in the genus Cemophora, and some of the kingsnakes (including the aforementioned milksnakes) in the genus Lampropeltis. However, in reference to the mnemonic phrase “red touching yellow, a deadly fellow,” some of these kingsnakes do not naturally display any red touching yellow, to begin with. Additionally, some ground snakes in the genus Sonora (of the southwestern U.S.) can have a color pattern that matches that of the sympatric Sonoran coral snake (Micruroides euryxanthus).
Official source
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