Tantilla melanocephala

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Colubridae

The family Colubridae, which includes the kingsnakes (Lampropeltis spp. ), is the largest, most widespread, and diverse family of snakes , with few physical characteristics universal among all species. The family contains 70 percent of the known species of snakes, with more than 1700 species worldwide (Pough et al. 1998). Although some colubrids are dangerously venomous , most are harmless to humans. [1]

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Calamaria melanocephala Schlegel 1837 • Cloelia melanocephala Wagler 1830 • Coluber melanocephalus Linnaeus 1758: 218 • Duberria melanocephala Fitzinger 1826 • Elapomorphus mexicanus GÜnther 1862 • Elapomorphus nuchalis Barbour 1914 • Elaps melanocephalus - Wagler 1824 • Homalocranion melanocephalum DumÉril Bibron & DumÉril 1854: 859 • Homalocranion melanocephalus VELASCO< /i> (In Error) 1891 • Homalocranium armillatum- GÜnther 1895 • Homalocranium fuscum - Boulenger 1896 • Homalocranium hoffmanni Werner 1909 • Homalocranium longifrontale - Boulenger 1896 • Homalocranium melanocephalum var. fraseri GÜnther 1895 • Homalocranium melanocephalum var. fuscum Bocourt 1883 • Homalocranium melanocephalum var. melanocephalum GÜnther 1895 • Homalocranium melanocephalum var. pernambucense GÜnther 1895 • Homalocranium mexicanum GÜnther 1895 • Homalocranium ruficeps Boulenger 1896 • Lycodon melanocephalum Boie 1827 • Natrix melanocephalus Merrem 1820 • Pogonaspis ruficeps Cope 1894 • Tantilla armillata Cope 1876 • Tantilla equatoria — zoological Record • Tantilla equatoriana Wilson & Mena 1980 • Tantilla equatoriana — Sawaya & Sazima 2003 • Tantilla fraseri - Peters 1960 • Tantilla fusca - Amaral 1929 • Tantilla longifrontale Ruthven 1922 • Tantilla longifrontalis - Amaral 1929 • Tantilla melanocephala - Cope 1861 • Tantilla melanocephala melanocephala Schmidt & Walker 1943 • Tantilla melanocephala — Kornacker 1999: 138 • Tantilla melanocephalum Whekind 1955 • Tantilla melanocephalus Shreve 1947 • Tantilla mexicana - Smith 1942 • Tantilla pallida Cope 1887 • Tantilla pallida Cope 1887: 56 • Tantilla ruficeps Amaral 1929 • Tantilla ruficeps — Savage 2002 • Tantilla ruficeps — SolÓrzano 2006

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Comment: holotype: USNM 198530 (male, equatoriana) Tantilla melanocephala capistrata has been elevated to species status. Tantilla equatoriana has been synonymized with T. melanocephala by GREENBAUM et al. (2004). T. ruficeps has been resurrected from the synonymy of T. melanocephala by SAVAGE (2002). Tantilla equatoriana was described from 2 male specimens of undetermined maturity from San Lorenzo, Esmeraldas Province , Ecuador (Wilson and Mena, 1980). This taxon was distinguished from all congeners by several characters: 1) a dark head cap grading into a dark nape band with 2 pale spots that cover the posterior part of the parietals , the posterior part of the posterior temporals, and associated postparietal scales ; 2) a pale preocular ''spot'' that contacts the preocular scale and eye; 3) a postocular ''spot'' that contacts the lateral gulars without interruption by a lateral extension of the head cap; 4) the absence of a pale neck band posterior to the dark nape band; 5) a tan background color with 9 dark brown stripes (in the middle of Scale Row 1, extending from the upper half of Row 2 to the lower half of Row 3, the top of Row 4 to the bottom of Row 5, the middle of Row 6 and the middle of the vertebral Scale Row 8); and 6) a greater number of subcaudals (77 to 79) in comparison with other members of the T. melanocephala Group (Wilson and Mena, 1980; Wilson, 1988). The T. melanocephala Group is the second largest species group in the genus and includes T. andinista, T. capistrata, [T. equatoriana,] T. insulamontana, T. lempira, T. melanocephala, and T. miyatai (Wilson, 1999). This species is characterized by extensive geographic variation in color pattern , ventral and subcaudal counts, and habitats occupied (Wilson and Mena, 1980). Not listed in LINER 1994.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Tantilla

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 60 species and subspecies in this genus:

T. albiceps (Barbour's Centipede Snake) · T. alticola (Boulenger's Centipede Snake) · T. andinista (Andes Centipede Snake) · T. atriceps (Mexican Black-Headed Snake) · T. bairdi (Baird's Black-Headed Snake) · T. bocourti (Bocourt's Black-Headed Snake) · T. brevicauda (Mertens' Centipede Snake) · T. briggsi (Briggs' Centipede Snake) · T. calamarina (Pacific Coast Centipede Snake) · T. capistrata (Capistrata Centipede Snake) · T. cascadae (Michoacán Centipede Snake) · T. coronadoi (Guerreran Centipede Snake) · T. coronata (Southeastern Crowned Snake) · T. coronata coronata (Southeastern Crowned Snake) · T. cucullata (Big Bend Black-Headed Snake) · T. cuesta (Wilson's Centipede Snake) · T. cuniculator (Peten Centipede Snake) · T. deppei (Deppe's Centipede Snake) · T. equatoriana (Equator Centipede Snake) · T. flavilineata (Yellow-Lined Centipede Snake) · T. gracilis (Flat-Headed Snake) · T. hobartsmithi (Southwestern Black-Headed Snake) · T. insulamontana (Mountain Centipede Snake) · T. jani (Jan's Centipede Snake) · T. lempira (Mena's Centipede Snake) · T. melanocephala (Black-Headed Snake; Equator Centipede Snake [equatoriana]) · T. moesta (Blackbelly Centipede Snake) · T. robusta (Morgan's Black-Headed Snake) · T. nigra (Black Centipede Snake) · T. nigriceps (Plains Black-Headed Snake) · T. nigriceps fumiceps (Plains Black-Headed Snake) · T. nigriceps nigriceps (Plains Black-Headed Snake) · T. oaxacae (Oaxacan Centipede Snake) · T. oolitica (Rim Rock Crowned Snake) · T. petersi (Peters' Black-Headed Snake) · T. planiceps (California Black-Headed Snake) · T. planiceps planiceps (California Black-Headed Snake) · T. relicta (Florida Crowned Snake) · T. relicta neilli (Central Florida Crowned Snake) · T. relicta pamlica (Coastal Dunes Crown Snake) · T. relicta (Florida Crowned Snake) · T. reticulata (Reticulate Centipede Snake) · T. rubra (Big Bend Black-Headed Snake) · T. rubra (Devil's River Black-Headed Snake) · T. rubra rubra (Big Bend Black-Headed Snake) · T. schistosa (Red Earth Centipede Snake) · T. semicincta (Ringed Centipede Snake) · T. shawi (Potosí Centipede Snake) · T. slavensi (Slavens' Centipede Snake) · T. striata (Striped Centipede Snake) · T. supracincta (Banded Centipede Snake) · T. taeniata (Central American Centipede Snake) · T. tayrae (Volcan Tacana Centipede Snake) · T. trilineata (Three-Lined Centipede Snake) · T. triseriata (Three-Lined Centipede Snake) · T. tritaeniata (Three-Banded Centipede Snake) · T. vermiformis (Hallowell's Centipede Snake) · T. wilcoxi (Chihuahuan Black-Headed Snake) · T. wilcoxi wilcoxi (Chihuahuan Black-Headed Snake) · T. yaquia (Yaqui Black-Headed Snake)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A catalog of the Ophidia from South America at present (June, 1916) contained in the Carnegie museum with descriptions of some new species / by Lawrence Edmonds Griffin. Pittsburgh: Published by the authority of the Board of trustees of the Carnegie institute, [1916] url p. 209.
• Amphibian & reptile conservation: the international journal devoted to the worldwide preservation and management of amphibian and reptilian diversity. Provo, Utah: Amphibian & Reptile Conservation, [1996- url p. 21.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url p. 83.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 69 1929 Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, 1863- url p. 256, p. 348.
• Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences Los Angeles, Calif.: The Academy, 1971- url p. 49, p. 50.
• Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History) by George Albert Boulenger. London, Trustees of the B.M., 1893-96. url p. 215.
• Comments on the identities of certain Tantilla (Squamata: Colubridae) from Guatemala, with the descriptions of two new species / by Jonathan A. Campbell. 1998 Lawrence, Kan.: Natural History Museum, The University of Kansas; 1998. url p. 14.
• Journal of the Field Naturalists' Club. Port-of-Spain: Field Naturalists' Club, 1892-1896 url p. 218.
• Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum. Pittsburgh: Published by the authority of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institute, 1901-1936. url p. 209, p. 488.
• Memoirs of the San Diego Society of Natural History. 11 1980 San Diego, Calif.: The Society, 1931-1989. url , , p. 10, p. 12, p. 13, p. 15, p. 16, p. 17, p. 18, p. 19, p. 22, p. 26, p. 27, p. 28, p. 3, p. 30, p. 31, p. 32, p. 33, p. 34, p. 35, p. 36, p. 37, fig. 1, page 44, fig. 2, page 45, fig. 3, page 46, fig. 4, page 47, fig. 5, page 48, fig. 6, page 49, p. 5, fig. 12, page 55, fig. 13, page 56, fig. 14, page 57, fig. 15, page 58, p. 6, p. 9.
• Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. 1978 Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1946-1996. url fig. 158, page 256, fig. 159, page 257, fig. 173, page 295, fig. 175, page 299.
• On the batrachia and reptilia of Costa Rica: With notes on the herpetology and ichthyology of Nicaragua and Peru / by E. D. Cope. Philadelphia: s.n., 1875. url p. 142, p. 143, p. 181, p. 95.
• Peruvian snakes from the University of Arequipa, by Karl P. Schmidt and Warren F. Walker. 24 1943 Chicago, 1943. url p. 293.
• Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia url p. 102, p. 102, p. 205.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 186.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] url p. 16.
• Productive farming; or, A familiar digest of the recent discoveries of Liebig, Johnston, Davy, and other celebrated writers on vegetable chemistry; showing how the results of tillage might be greatly augmented. By Joseph A. Smith. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1843. url p. 142, p. 143, p. 181, p. 95.
• Sexual size differences in reptiles / by Henry S. Fitch. 1981 Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1981. url p. 72.
• Snakes of the Peruvian coastal region, by Karl P. Schmidt and Warren F. Walker. 24 1943 Chicago, 1943. url p. 318.
• The South American herpetofauna: its origin, evolution, and dispersal / William E. Duellman, editor. Lawrence, Kan.: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, 1979. url p. 290.
• The University of Kansas science bulletin. 34 1951 [Lawrence]: University of Kansas, 1902-1996. url p. 153, p. 301, p. 8.
• The biogeography of the herpetofauna of the subhumid forests of Middle America: (Isthmus of Tehuantepec to northwestern Costa Rica) / Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, c1998. url p. 19, p. 23, p. 26, p. 30.
• Zoologica; scientific contributions of the New York Zoological Society. New York. url p. 216.

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 17, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 27, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 3 providers.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• TIGR Reptile Database . Release date: October 2, 2007
• Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 27, 2008:

• Carnegie Museums: Amphibians and Reptiles
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History: Vertebrate specimens
• Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: MCZ Herpetology Collection - Reptile Database
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2545448
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-7020
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 209446
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 152258

Footnotes

1. Painter, Charles W., Chuck L. Hayes, and James N. Stuart "Recovery and Conservation of the Gray-Banded Kingsnake. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. May 1, 2002. [back]

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