Kingdom Animalia Suborder Serpentes Subfamily Elapinae Phylum Chordata Rank Genus | Subphylum Vertebrata Family Elapidae Scientific name Hemibungarus Higher classification Elapidae Order Scaled reptiles | |
Similar Snake, Elapidae, Sinomicrurus, Reptile, Aspidomorphus | ||
Hemibungarus is a monotypic genus of venomous elapid snakes, one of several known commonly as Asian coral snakes or oriental coral snakes.
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Taxonomy
Sources vary greatly on the number of species within the genus; several species have been moved back and forth between Calliophis, Hemibungarus and more recently to Sinomicrurus, sometimes without much evidence to explain the reclassification. Only recently has mitochondrial DNA sequencing begun to clarify their taxonomy. DNA has also been used to establish the relationship between the Asiatic coral snakes and the North American coral snakes. Slowinski, Boundy and Lawson erected the genus Sinomicrurus for species with a closer relationship to the genus Micrurus, but the name is not always accepted.
The krait genus Bungarus, though it has a similar scientific name to Hemibungaris, is only distantly related.
Distribution
Hemibungarus calligaster is endemic the Philippines.