Tantilla Lempira

''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, blackhead snakes, and flathead snakes.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.

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 – USA ( Arizona, Texas, New Mexico), northern Mexico
*''Tantilla bairdi'' Stuart, 1941 – Baird's black-headed snake Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Tantilla bairdi'', p. 14; ''T. bocourti'', p. 29). – Guatemala
*'' Tantilla berguidoi'' Batista, Mebert, Lotzkat & Wilson, 2016 – Chucantí centipede snake – Panama
*''Tantilla bocourti'' (Günther, 1895) – Bocourt's black-headed snake – Mexico
*''Tantilla boipiranga'' Sawaya & Sazima, 2003 – Brazil
*''Tantilla brevicauda'' Mertens, 1952 – Mertens' centipede snake – El Salvador
*'' Tantilla briggsi'' Savitzky & H.M. Smith, 1971 – Briggs' centipede snake – Mexico
*'' Tantilla calamarina'' Cope, 1876 – Pacific Coast centipede snake – Mexico
*'' Tantilla capistrata'' Cope, 1876 – Capistrata centipede snake – Peru
*'' 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 – USA (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 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.
*'' 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
*'' Tantilla insulamontana'' Wilson & Mena, 1980 – mountain centipede snake – Ecuador
*''Tantilla jani'' (Günther, 1895) – Jan's centipede snake – Mexico, 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 – USA ( Florida)
*''Tantilla petersi'' Wilson, 1979 – Peters' 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 – USA (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 – USA (Texas), 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' 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 – 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
*''Tantilla wilcoxi'' Stejneger, 1902 – Chihuahuan blackhead snake – USA (Arizona), northern Mexico
*''Tantilla yaquia'' H.M. Smith, 1942 – Yaqui blackhead snake – USA (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

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. (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

*
Illinois Natural History Amphibian and Reptile Collection

{{Authority control

Colubrids
Snake genera
Taxa named by Charles Frédéric Girard
Taxa named by Spencer Fullerton Baird