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Tantilla albiceps BARBOUR, 1925

IUCN Red List - Tantilla albiceps - Data Deficient, DD
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Barbour's Centipede Snake 
SynonymTantilla albiceps BARBOUR 1925
Tantilla albiceps — WILSON 1985
Tantilla albiceps — JOSEPH-OUNI 2007
Tantilla albiceps — WALLACH et al. 2014: 698 
DistributionPanama (Gatun Lake, Canal Zone)

Type locality: Barra Colorado Island, Gatun Lake, Canal Zone, Panama.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MCZ 20600 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A species of Tantilla with a uniform olive slate dorsum grading on the sides of the body to ivory white on the venter. The head and nape are ivory white, except for a dusky-colored ring around the eye" (Wilson, 1982). Ventral and subcaudal counts are 183 and 65 +, respectively. Tantilla albiceps may be distinguished from all congeners by possession of an ivory white head and nape and a uniform olive slate dorsum (Wilson 1985). 
CommentConservation: Probably extinct fide JOSEPH-OUNI (2007). This species is known from a single specimen, the holotype (WILSON 1999, Wilson & Mata-Silva 2015).

Illustrations: Wilson (1982) published black and white photographs of lateral and dorsal views of the head and anterior body of the holotype. No other illustrations exist (Wilson 1985).

Abundance: Rare. This is one of the species called 'lost' and 'rediscovered' by Lindken et al. 2024. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin “albus, -a, -um” = white and the abbreviated term “-ceps” for “caput” = head. 
References
  • Barbour, T. 1925. A new frog and a new snake from Panama. Occas. Pap. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 5: 155-156 - get paper here
  • Joseph-Ouni, Mehdi. 2007. Profiles of Extinction #25 Panama White-Headed Snake Tantilla albiceps. Reptilia (GB) (51): 85 - get paper here
  • Lindken T.; Anderson, C. V., Ariano-Sánchez, D., Barki, G., Biggs, C., Bowles, P., Chaitanya, R., Cronin, D. T., Jähnig, S. C., Jeschke, J. M., Kennerley, R. J., Lacher, T. E. Jr., Luedtke, J. A., Liu, C., Long, B., Mallon, D., Martin, G. M., Meiri, 2024. What factors influence the rediscovery of lost tetrapod species? Global Change Biology, 30: 1-18 - get paper here
  • Ray, Julie M. and Patty Ruback 2015. Updated checklists of snakes for the provinces of Panamá and Panamá Oeste, Republic of Panama. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (2): 168-188 - 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.
  • 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,L.D. 1982. A Review of the Colubrid Snakes of the Genus Tantilla of Central America. Milwaukee Publ. Mus. Contr. Biol. Geol. (52): 1-77 - get paper here
  • Wilson,L.D. 1985. Tantilla albiceps. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 377: 1. - get paper here
 
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