Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 5, 2026

Pliocercus

Pliocercus is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Dipsadinae.

Last revised
Jun 5, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
198 w
Citations
3
Source
Pliocercus
Cope's false coral snake
Variegated false coral snake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Dipsadinae
Genus: Pliocercus
Cope, 1860

Pliocercus is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Dipsadinae.1

Geographic range

Species in the genus Pliocercus are found in Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.1

Species and subspecies

The following species and subspecies are recognized as being valid.1

  • Pliocercus elapoides Cope, 1860 – variegated false coral snake
    • Pliocercus elapoides aequalis Salvin, 1861
    • Pliocercus elapoides diastema (Bocourt, 1886)
    • Pliocercus elapoides elapoides Cope, 1860
    • Pliocercus elapoides occidentalis H.M. Smith & Landy, 1965
  • Pliocercus euryzonus Cope, 1862 – Cope's false coral snake
    • Pliocercus euryzonus burghardti H.M. Smith & Chiszar, 1996
    • Pliocercus euryzonus euryzonus Cope, 1862

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Pliocercus.

References

References

  1. Genus Pliocercus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading

Further reading

  • Cope ED (1860). "Catalogue of the Colubridæ in the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with notes and descriptions of new species. Part 2". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia [12]: 241-266. (Pliocercus, new genus, p. 253; P. elapoides, new species, pp. 253–254).