{{Short description|Species of snake}} {{italics title}} {{Speciesbox | image = Micrurus_frontalis_Brazil_DF.jpg | image_caption = | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=Cacciali, P. |author2=Carreira, S. |author3=Giraudo, A. |author4=Kacoliris, F. |author5=Montero, R. |author6=Scott, N. |year=2019 |title=''Micrurus frontalis'' |volume=2019 |article-number=e.T56041084A56041101 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T56041084A56041101.en |access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref> | taxon = Micrurus frontalis | authority = (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) | range_map = Micrurus frontalis Map.jpg }}
'''''Micrurus frontalis''''', also known as the '''southern coral snake''' or '''short-tailed coral snake''', is a species of highly venomous coral snake in the family Elapidae.<ref name=RDB>{{NRDB species|genus=Micrurus|species=frontalis|accessdate=16 February 2016}}</ref> It is found in South America.<ref name=IUCN/><ref name=RDB/>
== Description == This species grows on average to 75 cm in length, with a maximum of 164 cm already reported.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=WCH Clinical Toxinology Resources|url=http://www.toxinology.com/fusebox.cfm?fuseaction=main.snakes.display&mode=PrintFriendly&id=SN0291|access-date=2020-10-18|website=www.toxinology.com}}</ref> The color of the head varies, with a gray pigment on the top of the snout. The body pattern consists of very wide red bands that are separated by a series of 10–15 narrower black triads with 3 blacks separated by narrow white bands. The dorsal scales are red, with black tips of dark appearance. The tail has two complete triads.
It is a nocturnal, terrestrial and fossorial snake, which digs loose soil or litter, has been one of the main accident-causing corals in Southeast South America, although it is not relatively aggressive towards humans, it has Oviparous reproduction, although eggs / clutch has not been reported.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Living Hazards Database (LHD) – Search by Scientific Name |url=https://www.acq.osd.mil/eie/afpmb/docs/lhd/venomous_animals_byspecies.pdf |work=Living Hazards Database (LHD) }}</ref>
== Distribution and habitat == ''Micrurus frontalis'' is found in south-central Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina.<ref name=IUCN/><ref name=RDB/> It mainly lives in humid forests, tropical and subtropical deciduous forests, savannas, sandy and rocky areas, in secondary vegetation such as pastures and agricultural land, close to marshes and streams, it inhabits lowlands, from sea level to an elevation of 700 m.<ref name=":1" />
== Diet == It feeds on lizards and other snakes (including blind snakes).<ref name=":0" /> Cannibalism has been reported in this species.<ref name=":1" />
== Venom == Like all elapids in Brazil, ''Micrurus frontalis'' has post-synaptic neurotoxins (except for ''Micrurus corallinus'') that bind to terminal motor acetylcholine receptors, the toxin is composed of low molecular weight polypeptides, which are rapidly absorbed by the body after inoculation and symptoms can appear in minutes, the toxin acts peripherally, blocking neuromuscular transmission. Muscle paralysis is a consequence of the action of the toxin with the neurotransmitter by the nicotinic receptor on the end plate.
At the site of the bite, edema and paresthesias occur, the initial systemic symptoms of most coral accidents, include eyelid ptosis and diplopia, which are followed by facial muscle paralysis, visual impairment, anisocoria, dysarthria, dysphagia, salivation and generalized loss of muscle strength, in severe cases, life-threatening respiratory arrest occurs, with patients requiring artificial ventilation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seligman |first1=Renato |title=Acidente por ''Micrurus frontalis'': primeiro relato de envenenamento elapídico no Rio Grande do Sul |journal=Memórias do Instituto de Butantan |date=1993 |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=65–68 |url=https://bibliotecadigital.butantan.gov.br/arquivos/44/PDF/4.pdf |language=pt}}</ref> The median lethal dose is 22 μg for mice weighing 4–29 grams,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tanaka |first1=Gabriela D. |last2=Furtado |first2=Maria de Fátima D. |last3=Portaro |first3=Fernanda C. V. |last4=Sant'Anna |first4=Osvaldo Augusto |last5=Tambourgi |first5=Denise V. |title=Diversity of ''Micrurus'' snake species related to their venom toxic effects and the prospective of antivenom neutralization |journal=PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |date=2010 |volume=4 |issue=3 |page=e622 [Table 1] |doi=10.1371/journal.pntd.0000622|pmid=20231886 |pmc=2834742 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and 0.69 mg/kg.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Oliveira|first=Daysiane de|date=2017-08-12|title=Caracterização bioquímica e imunológica do veneno da serpente ''Micrurus surinamensis'' |type=MSc thesis |publisher=Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense |url=http://repositorio.unesc.net/handle/1/5198 |language=pt-BR}}</ref> The estimates of average yield range between 10 and 30 mg (dry weight), depending on the source.<ref name=":0" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3312527}}
frontalis Category:Reptiles of Argentina Category:Snakes of Brazil Category:Reptiles of Paraguay Category:Reptiles described in 1854 Category:Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril Category:Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron Category:Taxa named by Auguste Duméril
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