From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Genus of snakes
Centipede snake (Tantilla armillata ),
Nicaragua (August 3, 2013)
Smith's black-head snake (
Tantilla hobartsmithi ),
El Paso County, Texas (July, 2021)
Neotropical black-headed snake (
Tantilla melanocephala ), Paraíba,
Brazil (October 2, 2018)
Plains black headed snake (
Tantilla nigriceps )
Florida crowned snake (
Tantilla relicta ),
Highlands County, Florida (March 20, 2007)
Red black-headed snake (Tantilla rubra ),
Chiapas , Mexico (October, 2014)
Tantilla is a large
genus of harmless
New World
snakes in the
family
Colubridae . The genus includes 66
species , which are
commonly known as centipede snakes , black-headed snakes , and flathead snakes .
[6]
[7]
Description
Tantilla are small snakes, rarely exceeding 20 cm (8 inches) in total length (including tail). They are generally varying shades of
brown ,
red or
black in color. Some species have a brown body with a black head.
Behavior
Tantilla are
nocturnal , secretive snakes. They spend most of their time buried in the moist leaf litter of semi-forested regions or under rocks and debris.
Diet
The
diet of snakes of the genus Tantilla consists primarily of
invertebrates , including
scorpions ,
centipedes ,
spiders , and various
insects .
Species
Tantilla albiceps
Barbour , 1925 – Barbour's centipede snake –
Panama
Tantilla alticola (
Boulenger , 1903) – Boulenger's centipede snake –
Nicaragua ,
Costa Rica ,
Panama ,
Colombia
Tantilla andinista
Wilson &
Mena , 1980 – Andes centipede snake –
Ecuador
Tantilla armillata
Cope , 1876 – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
Tantilla atriceps (
Günther , 1895) – Mexican blackhead snake –
US (
Arizona ,
Texas ,
New Mexico ), northern
Mexico
Tantilla bairdi
Stuart , 1941 –
Baird's black-headed snake
[8] –
Guatemala
Tantilla berguidoi
Batista ,
Mebert ,
Lotzkat & Wilson, 2016 – Chucantí centipede snake – Panama
Tantilla bocourti (Günther, 1895) –
Bocourt's black-headed snake
[8] – Mexico
Tantilla boipiranga
Sawaya &
Sazima , 2003 –
Brazil
Tantilla brevicauda
Mertens , 1952 – Mertens's centipede snake – El Salvador
Tantilla briggsi
Savitzky &
H.M. Smith , 1971 – Briggs's centipede snake – Mexico
Tantilla calamarina Cope, 1876 – Pacific Coast centipede snake – Mexico
Tantilla capistrata Cope, 1876 – Capistrata centipede snake –
Peru
Tantilla carolina Palacios-Aguilar, Fucsko, Jiménez-Arcos, Wilson, & Mata-Silva, 2022 – Carolina’s little snake – Mexico
Tantilla cascadae
Wilson & Meyer, 1981 – Michoacán centipede snake – Mexico
Tantilla ceboruca
Canseco-Márquez et al., 2007 – Mexico
Tantilla coronadoi
Hartweg , 1944 – Guerreran centipede snake – Mexico
Tantilla coronata
Baird &
Girard , 1853 – southeastern crowned snake – southeastern United States
Tantilla cucullata
Minton , 1956 –
Big Bend blackhead snake – US (Texas), Mexico
Tantilla cuniculator H.M. Smith, 1939 – Peten centipede snake – south Mexico,
Belize , Guatemala
Tantilla deppei (
Bocourt ) –
Deppe's centipede snake – Mexico
Tantilla excelsa
McCranie &
E.N. Smith , 2017 – Honduras
Tantilla flavilineata H.M. Smith &
Burger , 1950 – yellow-lined centipede snake – Mexico
Tantilla gottei McCranie & E.N. Smith, 2017 – Honduras
Tantilla gracilis
Baird &
Girard , 1853 – flathead snake – southwestern United States, northern Mexico
[9]
Tantilla hendersoni
Stafford , 2004 – Peten centipede snake – Belize
Tantilla hobartsmithi
Taylor , 1936 – southwestern blackhead snake – southwestern United States, northern Mexico
Tantilla impensa
Campbell , 1998 – Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico
Tantilla insulamontana Wilson & Mena, 1980 – mountain centipede snake – Ecuador
Tantilla jani (Günther, 1895) –
Jan's centipede snake – Guatemala
Tantilla johnsoni Wilson,
Vaughn &
Dixon , 1999 – Mexico
Tantilla lempira Wilson & Mena, 1980 – Mena's centipede snake –
Honduras
Tantilla lydia
Antúnez-Fonseca ,
Castro ,
España ,
Townsend & Wilson, 2020 –
Honduras
Tantilla melanocephala (
Linnaeus , 1758) – blackhead snake – Mexico,
Central and
South America .
Tantilla miyatai Wilson &
Knight , 1987 – Ecuador
Tantilla moesta (Günther, 1863) – blackbelly centipede snake – Mexico, Guatemala, Belize
Tantilla nigra (Boulenger, 1914) – black centipede snake – Colombia
Tantilla nigriceps
Kennicott , 1860 – plains blackhead snake – southwestern United States, northern Mexico
Tantilla oaxacae Wilson & Meyer, 1971 – Oaxacan centipede snake Mexico
Tantilla olympia Townsend, Wilson,
Medina-Flores &
Herrera , 2013 – Honduras
Tantilla oolitica
Telford , 1966 – rim rock crowned snake – US (
Florida )
Tantilla petersi Wilson, 1979 –
Peters's blackhead snake
Tantilla planiceps (
Blainville , 1835) – western blackhead snake – United States (
California ), northern Mexico
Tantilla psittaca McCranie, 2011 – Honduras
Tantilla relicta Telford, 1966 – Florida crowned snake – US (Florida)
Tantilla reticulata (Cope, 1860) – reticulate centipede snake – Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia
Tantilla robusta Canseco-Márquez,
Mendelson &
Gutiérrez-Mayén , 2002 – Mexico
Tantilla rubra Cope, 1876 – Big Bend blackhead snake – Guatemala, Mexico
Tantilla ruficeps Cope, 1894 – Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama
Tantilla schistosa (
Bocourt , 1883) – red earth centipede snake – Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama
Tantilla semicincta (
A.M.C. Duméril ,
Bibron &
A.H.A. Duméril , 1854) – ringed centipede snake – Panama, Colombia, Venezuela
Tantilla sertula Wilson & Campbell, 2000 – Mexico
Tantilla shawi Taylor, 1949 –
Potosí centipede snake – Mexico
Tantilla slavensi
Pérez-Higareda , H.M. Smith &
R.B. Smith , 1985 – Slavens's centipede snake – Mexico
Tantilla stenigrammi McCranie & E.N. Smith, 2017 – Honduras
Tantilla striata
Dunn , 1928 – striped centipede snake – Mexico
Tantilla supracincta (
W. Peters , 1863) – banded centipede snake – Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador
Tantilla taeniata
Bocourt , 1883 – Central American centipede snake – Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua
Tantilla tayrae Wilson, 1983 – Volcán Tacaná centipede snake – Mexico
Tantilla tecta Campbell & E.N. Smith, 1997 – white-striped centipede snake – Guatemala
Tantilla tjiasmantoi (
Koch &
Venegas , 2016) – Tjiasmanto's centipede snake – Peru
Tantilla trilineata (W. Peters, 1880) – Brazilian three-lined centipede snake – Brazil
Tantilla triseriata H.M. Smith &
P.W. Smith , 1951 – Mexican three-lined centipede snake – Mexico
Tantilla tritaeniata H.M. Smith &
Williams , 1966 – three-banded centipede snake – Honduras
Tantilla vermiformis (
Hallowell , 1861) – Hallowell's centipede snake – Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvator
Tantilla vulcani
Campbell , 1998 – Guatemala and Mexico
Tantilla wilcoxi
Stejneger , 1902 – Chihuahuan blackhead snake – US (Arizona), northern Mexico
Tantilla yaquia H.M. Smith, 1942 – Yaqui blackhead snake – US (Arizona, New Mexico), Mexico
Nota bene : A
binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Tantilla .
References
^ Baird, Spencer F., and Charles Girard. 1853.
Catalogue of North American reptiles in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part I. Serpents. Smithsonian Misc.ColI. 2 (5): xvi, 172. [page 131]
^ Dumeril, Andre M. C., G. Bibron, and A. Dumeril. 1854. Erpetologie generale ou histoire naturelle complete des reptiles. Libraire Encyclopedique de Roret, Paris. Vol. 7 (pts. 1-2): 1-1536.
^ Hallowell, Edward. 1860 [1861]. Report upon the Reptilia of the North Pacific exploring expedition under command of Capt. John Rogers, U. S. N. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Science Philadelphia: 480-509.
^ Günther, Albert. 1872 [1873]. Seventh account of new species of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 9, no. 49 (1872): 13-37.
^ Cope, Edward D. 1894. Third addition to a knowledge of the Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sconces of Philadelphia. 1894: 194-206.
^ Wilson, Larry David. 1982.
Tantilla. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 303:1-4.
^ Wilson, Larry David, and Vicente Mata-Silva. 2015.
A checklist and key to the snakes of the Tantilla clade (Squamata: Colubridae), with comments on taxonomy, distribution, and conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2: 418–498.
^
a
b
Beolens, Bo ;
Watkins, Michael ; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp.
ISBN
978-1-4214-0135-5 . (Tantilla bairdi , p. 14; T. bocourti , p. 29).
^
Hardy LM ,
Cole CJ (1968).
"Morphological Variation in a Population of the Snake, Tantilla gracilis Baird and Girard" . University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History . 17 (15): 613–629.
Further reading
Baird SF ,
Girard CF (1853). Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part I.—Serpents. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. xvi + 172 pp. (Tantilla , new genus, p. 104).
Stebbins RC (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition . The Peterson Field Guide Series. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. xiii + 533 pp.
ISBN
0-395-98272-3 (paperback). (Genus Tantilla , pp. 397–399).
Wright AH , Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada . Ithaca and London: Comstock. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Genus Tantilla , p. 722; key species and subspecies of Tantilla , pp. 723–725).
External links