1
Aesculapian Snake
Zamenis longissimus
A large, slender non-venomous European colubrid named for the staff of Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of medicine.
Below are snakes that contain the letter L anywhere in the name. Each of the 40 snakes below opens to a full profile.
Table of contents
List of Snakes That Contain L
2
Ball Python
Python regius
A small, docile West African python that curls into a tight ball when threatened, now the most popular pet snake in the world.
3
Black Mamba
Dendroaspis polylepis
Africa's fastest snake and one of the most feared elapids, named for the inky black lining of its mouth rather than its skin colour.
4
Black Racer
Coluber constrictor
A fast, slender, glossy black colubrid common across the eastern United States, frequently mistaken for a venomous snake.
5
Blue Coral Snake
Calliophis bivirgatus
A spectacular Southeast Asian elapid with deep blue flanks, a red head and tail, and venom glands stretching a quarter of its body length.
6
Boelen Python
Simalia boeleni
A glossy iridescent black mountain python of New Guinea, prized by collectors and considered sacred by some highland communities.
7
Boomslang
Dispholidus typus
A large-eyed, slender African tree snake with potent rear-fanged hemotoxic venom and remarkable colour differences between the sexes.
8
Bull Snake
Pituophis catenifer sayi
A large constrictor of the North American Great Plains that hisses loudly and rattles its tail when threatened, often mistaken for a rattlesnake.
9
Coastal Taipan
Oxyuranus scutellatus
Australia's largest venomous snake and one of the world's most dangerous elapids, with a coffin-shaped head and lightning-fast strike.
10
Coral Snake
Micrurus nigrocinctus
A widespread brightly ringed neotropical elapid with potent neurotoxic venom, common in moist forests across Central and northern South America.
11
Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake
Sistrurus miliarius barbouri
A tiny, irritable Florida rattlesnake whose rattle is so small that it sounds more like an insect buzz than a warning.
12
Eastern Coral Snake
Micrurus fulvius
A small, slender, red-yellow-and-black ringed elapid of the American Southeast with extremely potent neurotoxic venom.
13
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Crotalus adamanteus
The largest rattlesnake in the world, a heavy-bodied pit viper of the longleaf pine ecosystems of the American Southeast.
14
Eyelash Viper
Bothriechis schlegelii
A small, colourful arboreal pit viper of Central American cloud forests, named for the spiky raised scales above its eyes.
15
False Coral Snake
Anilius scytale
A South American colubrid that mimics the bold red-and-black ringed pattern of true coral snakes but is harmless to humans.
16
Fer-de-Lance
Bothrops asper
A heavy-bodied neotropical pit viper responsible for most snakebite injuries in Central and South America.
17
Flowerpot Snake
Indotyphlops braminus
The most widely distributed land snake on Earth, a tiny blind burrower spread by potted plants and parthenogenetic reproduction.
18
Glossy Snake
Arizona elegans
A sand-coloured nocturnal constrictor of the American Southwest, named for the polished sheen of its smooth scales.
19
Golden Lancehead
Bothrops insularis
A critically endangered pit viper found only on Snake Island off the coast of Brazil, with venom potent enough to subdue migratory birds in flight.
20
Inland Taipan
Oxyuranus microlepidotus
The world's most venomous land snake, an elusive elapid of the cracked clay plains of central Australia.
21
Jungle Carpet Python
Morelia spilota cheynei
A striking yellow-and-black Australian python prized in herpetoculture, native to rainforest in far north Queensland.
22
Kirtland Snake
Clonophis kirtlandii
A small, secretive Midwestern North American natricine snake that lives almost entirely in burrows beneath wet meadows and is now seriously declining.
23
Levant Viper
Macrovipera lebetina
A heavy-bodied Near Eastern viper formerly considered the same species as the Ottoman viper, common across rocky hillsides from Turkey to Iran.
24
Long-nosed Whip Snake
Platyceps najadum
A slim Mediterranean colubrid with a sharply pointed snout, racing through dry scrub and stone walls at remarkable speed.
25
Lyre Snake
Trimorphodon biscutatus
A small, mildly venomous rear-fanged snake of southwestern North American canyons, named for the V-shaped lyre marking on the head.
26
Milk Snake
Lampropeltis triangulum
A widely distributed, brightly banded constrictor whose mimicry of coral snakes inspired the famous "red touches black, friend of Jack" rhyme.
27
Mojave Rattlesnake
Crotalus scutulatus
A green-tinged desert rattlesnake of the American Southwest whose venom mixes hemorrhagic and powerful neurotoxic components.
28
Olive Python
Liasis olivaceus
A large, uniformly coloured Australian python of rocky watercourses across the tropical north, second only to the scrub python in Australian length.
29
Olive Sea Snake
Aipysurus laevis
A large, curious Indo-Pacific marine elapid often encountered on coral reefs, approaching divers without aggression but bearing potent venom.
30
Oriental Rat Snake
Ptyas mucosa
A long, slim, alert Asian colubrid often kept by snake charmers, beneficial around villages for controlling rats and rodents.
31
Reticulated Python
Malayopython reticulatus
The longest snake species in the world, a slender Southeast Asian giant with a complex network-like geometric pattern.
32
Russell Viper
Daboia russelii
A heavy, irritable South Asian viper named for Scottish naturalist Patrick Russell, responsible for tens of thousands of fatal bites each year.
33
Saw-scaled Viper
Echis carinatus
A small, irritable Asian viper that produces a rasping warning sound by rubbing its serrated scales together and kills more people each year than any other snake.
34
Timber Rattlesnake
Crotalus horridus
A large, heavy-bodied rattlesnake of eastern North American hardwood forests, calm by nature and culturally important in colonial American history.
35
Twin-spotted Rattlesnake
Crotalus pricei
A small, high-altitude rattlesnake of the sky-island pine forests on the U.S.-Mexico border, with a row of paired dark blotches along the back.
36
Uracoan Rattlesnake
Crotalus vegrandis
A small Venezuelan rattlesnake of dry savanna habitats, named for the Uracoa River in Monagas state.
37
Ural Rat Snake
Elaphe schrenckii
A large, agile climber of Korean and Russian forests, also called the Russian rat snake, valued by snake enthusiasts for its cool-temperate hardiness.
38
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
Crotalus atrox
The most widespread rattlesnake in the American Southwest, responsible for a large share of snakebites across the desert states.
39
Yellow Anaconda
Eunectes notaeus
A heavy yellow-and-black South American boa of the Pantanal and Chaco, smaller than the green anaconda but still among the largest snakes on Earth.
40
Yellow-bellied Sea Snake
Hydrophis platurus
A fully pelagic marine elapid found drifting in open ocean across most of the Indian and Pacific, the most widely distributed snake in the world.
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