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Dipsas tenuissima TAYLOR, 1954

IUCN Red List - Dipsas tenuissima - Near Threatened, NT
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Taylor's Snail-eater
G: Taylors Schneckennatter 
SynonymDipsas tenuissima TAYLOR 1954
Dipsas variegata — PETERS 1960
Dipsas tenuissima — VILLA et al. 1988
Dipsas tenuissima — SCHMIDT & KUNZ 2005: 8
Dipsas tenuissima — WALLACH et al. 2014: 235 
DistributionPanama, Costa Rica

Type locality: approximately 15 kilometers WSW of San Isidro del General, Costa Rica, on Dominical Road, in swamp.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: KU 31961 (given as KMNH), sex not known, collected by Edward H. Taylor, on July 10, 1952. 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS: The heavily pigmented light rings, combined with the absence of a mental groove (fig. l1.14e) and the paired rectangular chin shields, make this form easy to recognize (Savage 2002: 598).


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CommentHabitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). 
EtymologyFrom the Latin tenuissimus meaning slim (or “slimmest”) in allusion to its slender appearance. 
References
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Mason J. Ryan, Ian M. Latella, Beatriz Willink, Adrián García-Rodríguez, Casey A. Gilman 2015. Notes on the breeding habits and new distribution records of seven species of snakes from southwest Costa Rica. Herpetology Notes 8: 669-671 - get paper here
  • Peters , J. A. 1960. The snakes of the subfamily Dipsadinae. Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan (114): 224 pp. - get paper here
  • Ray JM, Sánchez-Martínez P, Batista A, Mulcahy DG, Sheehy III CM, Smith EN, Pyron RA, Arteaga A 2023. A new species of Dipsas (Serpentes, Dipsadidae) from central Panama. ZooKeys 1145: 131–167
  • Sasa, M., Arias, E., & Chaves, G. 2025. Annotated list of amphibians and reptiles of Costa Rica: The role of the Museum of Zoology in cataloging the country’s herpetological diversity. Revista de Biología Tropical, 73(S2): e64536-e64536 - get paper here
  • Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna Between Two Continents, Between Two Seas. University of Chicago Press, 934 pp. [review in Copeia 2003 (1): 205]
  • Schmidt, D. & Kunz, K. 2005. Ernährung von Schlangen. Natur und Tier Verlag, Münster, 159 pp. - get paper here
  • Schumacher, R A H 1996. Haltung und Zucht einer mittelamerikanischen Schneckennatter - Dipsas tenuissima Taylor, 1954 im Terrarium. Sauria 18 (1): 3-10 - get paper here
  • Solorzano, A. 2004. Serpientes de Costa Rica - Snakes of Costa Rica. Editorial INBio, Costa Rica, 792 pp.
  • Solórzano, A. 2006. Snakes of the Osa Peninsula [Costa Rica]. Reptilia (GB) (48): 30-34 - get paper here
  • Solórzano, A. 2006. Die Schlangen der Osa-Halbinsel [Costa Rica]. Reptilia (Münster) 11 (61): 28-31 - get paper here
  • Taylor,E.H. 1954. Further studies on the serpents of Costa Rica. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 36: 673-800. - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
 
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