Tantilla vermiformis

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

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]

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [2].

Ecology: This small snake can be found in the soil or under rotting logs and stones in lowland dry forest and adjacent moist forest habitats; it has also been found in pastureland (Van Devender and Cole 1977, Savage 2002).[2].

List of Habitats :

•     1     Forest   
  
•     1.5     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry   
  
•     1.6     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland   
  
•     14     Artificial/Terrestrial   
  
•     14.2     Artificial/Terrestrial - Pastureland   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Homalocranium vermiforme • Homalocranium vermiforme Boulenger 1896 • Homalocranium vermiformis GÜnther 1895 • Lioninia vermiformis • Lioninia vermiformis Hallowell 1861: 484 • Tantilla vermiformis - Cope 1861: 74 • Tantilla vermiformis — Peters & Orejas-Miranda 1970: 298

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

This species is part of the Tantilla calamarina species group (Wilson 1999, Canseco-Márquez et al. 2007).[2].

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

• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url p. 298, p. 83.
• Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences Los Angeles, Calif.: The Academy, 1971- url p. 95, p. 96.
• Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History) by George Albert Boulenger. London, Trustees of the B.M., 1893-96. url p. 225.
• 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. 144.
• Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia url p. 126, p. 126.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 820, p. 823, p. 825, p. 826.
• 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. 144.
• 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. 25, p. 30, p. 34.

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.
• Bohm, M & Richman, N. 2011. Tantilla vermiformis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 05February2012.
• 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 provider.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• 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:

• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History: Vertebrate specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2545482
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-7046
• IUCN ID: 245299
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 618295

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]
2. Bohm, M & Richman, N. 2011. Tantilla vermiformis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 05 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.