Smooth snake
species of reptile
The smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) is a species of small dimensions in the family Colubridae. The species is found in northern and central Europe, but also as far east as northern Iran. The Reptile Database recognizes two subspecies as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies described here.
Subspecies
There are two subspecies:
Geographic range
Coronella austriaca is found from the south of England through France and the Low Countries to northern Spain and Portugal, Germany, Norway and Sweden (as far north as latitude 63°), Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Sicily (but not in Corsica or Sardinia), the western Balkans and Greece, and European Russia as far north as latitude 57°. In Asia, it is found from Turkey to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and northern Iran. It is absent in Denmark despite the species being found just south of the German border as well as in southern Sweden. The species is only known from Denmark from 6 specimens, all found between 1870 and 1914.
In Finland, the species is found only in Åland, and it is not common there.
Description
Both sexes of C. austriaca grow to an average total length (including tail) of about 60 cm (24 in) to 75 cm (30 in). Two specimens measuring 83 cm (33 in) have been recorded in Sweden, as well as one in Russia that was 92 cm (36 in).
“Smooth snake” enters the record as species of reptile. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Smooth, snake and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Smooth snake” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Smooth, snake and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q208648. The Library of Congress control number is sh2017000175. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1870 and 1914.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Smooth snake” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.