Coronella

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iCoronella

Smooth snake, C. austriaca

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Colubrinae
Genus:	Coronella Laurenti, 1768<ref name="Ste71">Steward JW. 1971. The Snakes of Europe. Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Press (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press). 238 pp. LCCCN 77-163307. ISBN 0-8386-1023-4.</ref>

Common names: Smooth snakes.<ref name="Ste71"/>

Coronella is a genus of non-venomous snakes found in Europe, North Africa and West Asia.<ref name="Ste71"/> Three species are currently recognized.<ref name="EMBL">Genus Coronella at the EMBL Reptile Database</ref>

1 Description
2 Behavior
3 Feeding
4 Geographic range
5 Species
6 Taxonomy
7 Cited references
8 External links

[edit] Description

These are relatively small species, rarely growing to more than 60 cm in length. The head is only slightly distinct from the neck and the pupils are round. The teeth of the upper jaw increase in size towards the back. The body is almost cylindrical and covered with smooth scales. The subcaudals are paired.<ref name="Ste71"/>

[edit] Behavior

They are terrestrial and rather secretive, spending much of their time under cover.<ref name="Ste71"/>

[edit] Feeding

Their diet is made up mainly of lizards and the young of other snakes, as well as small rodents, especially young still in the nest. They have often been described as constrictors, although there is no good evidence for this.<ref name="Ste71"/> Street (1979) notes that prey is held firmly in its coils, but only for the purpose of restraint rather than to kill it.<ref name="Str79">Street D. 1979. The Reptiles of Northern and Central Europe. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. 268 pp. ISBN 0-7134-1374-3.</ref>

[edit] Geographic range

Europe, North Africa and West Asia.<ref name="Ste71"/>

[edit] Species

Species<ref name="EMBL"/>	Authority<ref name="EMBL"/>	Subsp.*<ref name="EMBL"/>	Common name<ref name="EMBL"/>	Geographic range<ref name="EMBL"/>
C. austriaca	Laurenti, 1768	2	Smooth snake	Finland, southern Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, southern England, northern Spain, northern Portugal, France, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece (incl. Samothraki), Albania, Turkey, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, western Kazakhstan, northern Asia Minor, northern Iran.
C. brachyura	(Gönther, 1866)	0	Indian smooth snake	India (northern Maharashtra).
C. girondica	(Daudin, 1803)	1	Southern smooth snake	Spain, Portugal, southern France, Italy, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia.

*) Not including the nominate subspecies (typical form).

[edit] Taxonomy

Coronella is closely related to the American kingsnakes (Lampropeltis) and both groups were once classified within the same genus.<ref name="Meh87">Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.</ref>