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Tantilla atriceps (GÜNTHER, 1895)

IUCN Red List - Tantilla atriceps - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mexican Blackhead Snake
S: Culebrilla de Cabeza Negra 
SynonymHomalocranium atriceps GÜNTHER 1895: 146
Tantilla atriceps — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945
Tantilla planiceps atriceps — LINER et al. 1977
Tantilla planiceps atriceps — JONES et al. 1981
Tantilla atriceps — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 223
Tantilla atriceps — LINER 1994
Tantilla atriceps — ERNST & ERNST 2003: 338
Tantilla atriceps — LINER 2007
Tantilla atriceps — WILSON & MATA-SILVA 2014: 15
Tantilla atriceps — WALLACH et al. 2014: 699 
DistributionUSA (SW Texas),
Mexico (Chihuahua, NE Durango, Coahuila, NE Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, W Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas)

Elevation: 0-2,134 m (WILSON & MATA-SILVA 2014)

Type locality: "Nuevo Leon, Mexico."  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: BMNH 1946.1.8.81-82 (original numbers 89.7.3.36-37, respectively), both males, obtained in 1889 from W. Taylor. 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (2535 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentCole and Hardy (1981) demonstrated that T. atriceps and T. hobartsmithi are sibling species, differing from one another in the structure of the hemipenis. Other features used to distinguish between these two species (number of postoculars, contact or lack thereof between mental and anterior chinshields) do not consistently do so (Robert G. Webb, in litt.). In addition, some specimens of T. nigriceps cannot be distinguished convincingly from these two sibiling species in areas of sympatry (Cole and Hardy, 1981) [from WILSON 1999].

Distribution: in the US only in the extreme S Texas, not in SE Arizona or S New Mexico, fide Wilson & Mata-Silva 2015. Not in Sonora fide Wilson & Mata-Silva 2014 and Lemos-Espinal et al. 2019. 
EtymologyNamed after its color, Latin “ater, atra, atrum” = dark or black, and “-ceps”, a short form of “caput” = head. 
References
  • Axtell, Ralph W. 1959. AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE BLACK GAP WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA, BREWSTER COUNTY, TEXAS. Southwestern Naturalist 4 (2): 88-109
  • Blanchard, Frank N. 1938. Snakes of the genus Tantilla in the United States. Zoological Series of Field Museum of Natural History 20 (28): 369-376 - get paper here
  • Cole C J; Hardy L M 1983. Tantilla atriceps (Gunther). Mexican black-headed snake. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 317: 1-2 - get paper here
  • Conant,R. & Collins,J.T. 1991. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin (Boston/New York), xx + 450 p.
  • Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92
  • Dixon, James R. 2000. Amphibians and reptiles of Texas, second edition. Texas A&M University Press, 421 pp.
  • Ernst, C.H. & Ernst, E.M. 2003. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Inst. Press, Washington, 668 pp.
  • Günther, A. C. L. G. 1885. Reptilia and Batrachia. Biologia Centrali-Américana. Taylor, & Francis, London, 326 pp. [published in parts from 1885-1902; reprint by the SSAR 1987] - get paper here
  • Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 pp
  • Jameson, David H.;Flury, Alvin G. 1949. The reptiles and amphibians of the Sierra Vieja Range of southwestern Texas. Texas Journal of Science 1 (2): 54-77 - get paper here
  • Jones, K.B.; Abbas, D.R. & Bergstedt, T. 1981. Herpetological records from Central and Northeastern Arizona. Herpetological Review 12 (1): 16 - get paper here
  • Lazcano D, Nevárez-de los Reyes M, García-Padilla E, Johnson JD, Mata-Silva V, DeSantis DL, Wilson LD. 2019. The herpetofauna of Coahuila, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13(2) [General Section]: 31–94 (e189) - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Gadsden-Esparza H, Valdez-Lares R, Woolrich-Piña GA 2018. Amphibians and reptiles of the state of Durango, Mexico, with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 748: 65-87 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Woolrich-Piña GA 2018. Amphibians and reptiles of the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 753: 83-106 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal, Julio A. and James R. Dixon 2013. Amphibians and Reptiles of San Luis Potosí. Eagle Mountain Publishing, xii + 300 pp.
  • Liner, Ernest A. 2007. A CHECKLIST OF THE AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF MEXICO. Louisiana State University Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Science 80: 1-60 - get paper here
  • Liner, Ernest A.;Johnson, Richard M.;Chaney, Alan H. 1977. A contribution to the herpetology of Northern Coahuila, Mexico. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 80 (1-2): 47-53 - get paper here
  • McDiarmid, Roy W. 1968. Variation, distribution and systematic status of the black-headed snake Tantilla yaquia Smith. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 67 (3): 159-177 - get paper here
  • Nevárez-de-los-Reyes, Manuel, David Lazcano, Elí García-Padilla, Vicente Mata-Silva, Jerry D. Johnson and Larry David Wilson. 2016. The Herpetofauna of Nuevo León, Mexico: Composition, Distribution, and Conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (3): 558–638 - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M. & Taylor, Edward H. 1945. An annotated checklist and key to the snakes of Mexico. Bull. US Natl. Mus. (187): iv + 1-239 - get paper here
  • Taylor, Edward H. 1937. Notes and comments on certain American and Mexican snakes of the genus Tantilla, with descriptions of new species. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 39 [1936]: 335-348 - get paper here
  • Tennant, A. 2003. Snakes of North America - Eastern and Central Regions, revised edition. Lone Star Books, 605 pp.
  • Tennant, A. & Bartlett, R.D. 2000. Snakes of North America - Eastern and Central Regions. Gulf Publishing, Houston, TX, 588 pp.
  • Terán-Juárez, Sergio A., Elí García Padilla, Vicente Mata-Silva, Jerry D. Johnson and Larry David Wilson. 2016. The herpetofauna of Tamaulipas, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (1): 43–113 - get paper here
  • Valdez-Lares, R.; R. Muñiz-Martínez; E.Gadsden; G. Aguirre-León; G. Castañeda-Gaytán; R. Gonzalez-Trápaga 2013. Checklist of amphibians and reptiles of the state of Durango, México. Check List 9 (4):714-724 - 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.
  • Werler, John E. & James R. Dixon 2000. Texas Snakes. University of Texas Press, 544 pages
  • Wilson, L.D. 1999. Checklist and key to the species of the genus Tantilla (Serpentes: Colubridae), with some commentary on distribution. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (122): 1-34 - get paper here
  • Wilson, Larry David and Vicente Mata-Silva 2015. A checklist and key to the snakes of the Tantilla clade (Squamata: Colubridae), with comments on distribution and conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (4): 418 - get paper here
  • Wilson, Larry David and Vicente Mata-Silva. 2014. Snakes of the genus Tantilla (Squamata: Colubridae) in Mexico: taxonomy, distribution, and Conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (1): 5-95 - get paper here
 
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