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.
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
