Brown snake | Description & Facts | Britannica (original) (raw)

brown snake, any of several species of snakes named for their usual predominating colour. In New Guinea and Australia the name brown snake is applied to approximately 10 species of the genus Pseudonaja. These venomous snakes are slender small-headed members of the cobra family, Elapidae. In North America the name is given to snakes in the genus Storeria, a nonvenomous group in the family Colubridae.

Brown snakes of New Guinea and Australia range from 40 cm to 2 metres (16 inches to about 7 feet) in length. They are generally brown in colour, though some species also have black speckles or bands, and the bellies of most species are a creamy yellow. The snakes are active during the daytime and feed on small lizards, mice, and ground-dwelling birds. They are alert, fast-moving, highly venomous snakes that are quite dangerous to humans. Brown snakes are found over most of Australia. The best-known species is the eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis), which grows to about 2 metres (7 feet). Other species in the genus are the western brown snake or gwardar (P. nuchalis) and the dugite (P. affinis).

TheNew World brown snakes encompass the five species of the genus Storeria. They are found from eastern Canada to Honduras and are mostly less than 30 cm (12 inches) long. They are shy and spend most of their time under rocks, heavy vegetation, and leaf litter. The brown snake, or Dekay’s brown snake (S. dekayi), is the only North American snake to survive in abundance in densely populated regions.

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.