Other Free Encyclopedias :: Animal Life Resource :: Snakes, Crocodiles, Dinosaurs, and Other Reptiles - Vol 2

False Coral Snake: Aniliidae - Physical Characteristics, Geographic Range, Behavior And Reproduction - HABITAT, DIET, FALSE CORAL SNAKES AND PEOPLE, CONSERVATION STATUS

HABITAT

This snake spends much of its time in burrows in loose soil. It lives in rainforests, especially in low-lying areas near streams or other waterways.

The false coral snake is a nonpoisonous snake and usually stays underground during the daytime. (Illustration by Jonathan Higgins. Reproduced by permission.)

DIET

False coral snakes eat long and narrow vertebrates (VER-teh-brehts), which are animals with backbones. These include small snakes, eels, caecilians, and amphisbaenians. Caecilians (seh-SEE-lee-ens) are salamanderlike animals that live underground. Amphisbaenians (am-fizz-BANE-ee-ens) are smallheaded, short-tailed lizards that also make their homes below ground.

FALSE CORAL SNAKES AND PEOPLE

People and false coral snakes rarely see one another.

CONSERVATION STATUS

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) considers the false coral snake to be Data Deficient, which means that scientists as yet have too little information to make a judgment about the threat of extinction. Destruction and other changes to their habitat, however, are probably threatening at least some populations.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Books

Burnie, David, and Don Wilson, eds. The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife. New York: DK Publishing, 2001.

Grace, Eric, ed. Snakes. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books for Children, 1994.

Greene, H. W. Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.

Mehrtens, John M. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishing, 1987.

Peters, J. A., R. Donoso-Barros, and P. E. Vanzolini. Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata. Part 1, Snakes. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1986.

Zug, G. R., L. J. Vitt, and J. P. Caldwell. Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles, 2nd ed. San Diego: Academic Press, 2001.

Web sites

"Family Aniliidae." EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory) Reptile Database. http://www.embl-heidelberg.de/uetz/families/Aniliidae.html (accessed on September 28, 2004).

Lovera, A. "Anilius scytale (false coral snake, pipe snake, and red pipe snake)." Animal Diversity Web. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Anilius_scytale.html (accessed on February 2, 2005).

"Pipe Snake (Anilius scytale). Animal Planet.com. http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/jeffcorwin/carnival/slithering/pipesnake.html (accessed on February 2, 2005).