NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Redback Coffee Snake
Ninia sebae (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Ninia sebae, commonly known as the redback coffee snake or the red coffee snake, is a species of small terrestrial snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to southeastern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica. Although it resembles some venomous coral snakes in color and size, it is not venomous and rarely bites humans.
Wikipedia contributors, Ninia sebae; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:57:21.375836+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ninia sebae (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854)
- Name authority
- (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854)
- Common name
- Redback Coffee Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Ninia
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyColubridae
- subfamilyDipsadinae
- genusNinia Baird & Girard, 1853
- speciesNinia sebae (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ninia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ninia celata Mccranie & Wilson, 1995 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Espinal's Coffee SnakeNinia espinali Mccranie & Wilson, 1995 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Simla CoffeesnakeNinia franciscoi Angarita-Sierra, 2014 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cope's Coffee SnakeNinia psephota (Cope, 1875) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Northern Banded Coffee SnakeNinia pavimentata (Bocourt, 1883) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ninia teresitae Angarita-Sierra & Lynch, 2017 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hallowell's Coffee SnakeNinia atrata (Hallowell, 1845) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ninia diademata Baird & Girard, 1853 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Guiana Coffee SnakeNinia hudsoni Parker, 1940 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pacific Banded Coffee SnakeNinia maculata (Peters, 1861) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Streptophorus sebae Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 | synonym |
| Streptophorus sebae collaris Jan, 1862 Jan, 1862 | synonym |
| Ninia sebae morleyi Schmidt & Andrews, 1936 Schmidt & Andrews, 1936 | ambiguous synonym |
| Elapoidis fasciatus Hallowell, 1855 Hallowell, 1855 | synonym |
| Streptophorus sebae var. dorsalis Bocourt, 1883 Bocourt, 1883 | synonym |
| Streptophorus sebae var. punctulata Bocourt, 1883 Bocourt, 1883 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Duméril, A.M.C., G. BIBRON & A.H.A. DUMÉRIL. (1854). Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 7 (partie 1). Paris, Xvi + 780 S. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:47FGY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.