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]

Tantilla
Tantilla gracilis, flathead snake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Colubrinae
Genus: Tantilla
Baird & Girard, 1853[1]
Synonyms
  • Homalocranion Duméril, Bibron, & Duméril, 1854[2]
  • Lioninia Hallowell, 1861[3]
  • Microdromus Giinther, 1873[4]
  • Pogonaspis Cope, 1894[5]
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)

Description

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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

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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

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The diet of snakes of the genus Tantilla consists primarily of invertebrates, including scorpions, centipedes, spiders, and various insects.

Species

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Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Tantilla.

References

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  1. ^ 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]
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Wilson, Larry David. 1982. Tantilla. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 303:1-4.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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).
  9. ^ 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

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  • 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).
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