You are here » home › advanced search › search results › Trimorphodon tau

Trimorphodon tau COPE, 1870

IUCN Red List - Trimorphodon tau - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Trimorphodon tau?

Add your own observation of
Trimorphodon tau »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesTrimorphodon tau latifascia (PETERS 1870)
Trimorphodon tau tau (COPE 1870) 
Common NamesE: Mexican Lyre Snake
S: Falsa Nauyaca Mexicana 
SynonymTrimorphodon tau COPE 1870: 152
Eteirodipsas biscutata — JAN 1863 (part.)
Trimorphodon upsilon COPE 1870: 151
Trimorphodon collaris COPE 1875: 131
Sibon biscutatus — GARMAN 1883: 134 (part.)
Sibon upsilon — GARMAN 1883: 134
Trimorphodon biscutatus — GÜNTHER 1895: 174 (part.)
Trimorphodon upsilon — COPE 1900: 1104
Trimorphodon upsilon var. collaris — MOCQUARD in DUMÉRIL & BOCOURT 1908
Trimorphodon fasciolata SMITH 1941: 160
Trimorphodon fasciolata — SCHMIDT 1947
Trimorphodon forbesi SMITH 1941: 163
Trimorphodon tau tau — SMITH & DARLING 1952: 85
Trimorphodon tau upsilon — SMITH & DARLING 1952: 85
Trimorphodon upsilon — ZWEIFEL & NORRIS 1955
Trimorphodon tau tau — TANNER 1985: 660
Trimorphodon tau — LINER 1994
Trimorphodon tau — MATA-SILVA et al. 2015
Trimorphodon tau — WALLACH et al. 2014: 745

Trimorphodon tau latifasciata (PETERS 1870)
Dipsas biscutata var. latifascia PETERS 1870: 877
Sibon biscutatum var. latifasciatum — GARMAN 1884: 134
Trimorphodon latifasciata — TAYLOR 1939: 364
Trimorphodon latifascia — TAYLOR 1939 (in error)
Trimorphodon latifasciata — HALL 1951
Trimorphodon latifasciata — DAVIS & SMITH 1953
Trimorphodon latifasciata — DUELLMAN 1958
Trimorphodon tau latifasciata — MCDIARMID & SCOTT 1970
Trimorphodon tau latifasciata — LINER 1994
Trimorphodon tau latifascia — BAUER et al. 1995: 70 
DistributionMexico (Puebla, Guerrero, Aguascalientes, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, San Luis Potosí, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Sinaloa, Sonora, Zacatecas, Nuevo Leon [HR 30: 114], Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Quéretaro, Veracruz)

latifascia: Mexico (Puebla, Morelos); Type locality: Puebla [Mexico], by implication; restricted to “Matamoros (IzEucar)” by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950

Type locality: “western part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico (in error); “Quiotepec, Oaxaca” (fide TAYLOR 1949: 210).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 30338 (tau)
Lectotype: ZMB 6652A (designated by MCDIARMID & SCOTT 1970) [latifascia]
Holotype: USNM 110402 [forbesi]
Holotype: USNM 110400 [fasciolata]
Holotype: USNM 26499 [collaris]
Holotype: USNM 31358 [upsilon] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (793 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy mostly after McDIARMID & SCOTT 1970.

Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Diet: primarily lizards. 
EtymologyThe specific name is Greek for the letter "T," and refers to the inverted "T-shape" of the pale markings on the interparietal region of the head. 
References
  • Banda-Leal J, Lazcano D, Nevárez-de los Reyes M, Barriga-Vallejo C, Wilson LD 2022. New records and range extension of Trimorphodon tau Cope, 1869 (Squamata, Colubridae) in Nuevo León, México. Check List 18(1): 227-231 - get paper here
  • Cadena-Rico, S., Leyte-Manrique, A., & Hernández-Salinas, U. 2020. Herpetofauna de la cuenca baja del Río Temascatio, Irapuato, Guanajuato, México. Acta zoológica mexicana, 36
  • Canseco-Márquez, L., & Gutiérrrez-Mayén, M.G. 2010. Anfibios y reptiles del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán. Comisión Nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad, México D.F., Mexico, 302 pp - get paper here
  • Carbajal-Márquez, Rubén A. and Gustavo E. Quintero-Díaz 2016. The Herpetofauna of Aguascalientes, México. Revista Mexicana de Herpetología 2(1):
  • Casas-Andreu, G., F.R. Méndez-De la Cruz and X. Aguilar-Miguel. 2004. Anfibios y Reptiles; pp. 375–390, in A.J.M. García-Mendoza, J. Ordoñez and M. Briones-Salas (ed.). Biodiversidad de Oaxaca. Instituto de Biología, UNAM-Fondo Oaxaqueño para la Conservación de la Naturaleza-World Wildlife Fund, México, D. F.
  • Castro-Franco, Rubén, María Guasalupe Bustos-Zagal 1994. List of reptiles of Morelos, Mexico, and their distribution in relation to vegetation types. Southwestern Naturalist 39 (2): 171-175 - get paper here
  • Cobarrubias, Edgar Flores; Daniel Cruz-Sáenz, and David Lazcano 2012. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Western Mexico 6: Amphibians and Reptiles of Hostotipaquillo, Jalisco, Mexico. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 47 (2):21-26 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1870. Seventh contribution to the herpetology of tropical America. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 11: 147-169 [1869] - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1875. On the Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica with notes on the herpetology and ichthyology of Nicaragua and Peru. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia N.S. (2) 8: 93-183 [sometimes said to be published 1876 but see Murphy et al. 2007 for clarification]] - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1900. The crocodilians, lizards and snakes of North America. Ann. Rep. U.S. Natl. Mus. 1898: 153-1270 - get paper here
  • Cruz-Elizalde R, Ramírez-Bautista A, Pineda-López R, Mata-Silva V, DeSantis DL, García-Padilla E, Johnson JD, Rocha A, Fucsko LA, Wilson LD. 2022. The herpetofauna of Querétaro, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 16(1) [General Section]: 148–192 (e308) - get paper here
  • Davis, William B.; Smith, Hobart M. 1953. Snakes of the Mexican state of Morelos. Herpetologica 8: 133-149 - get paper here
  • Dixon, James R. and Julio A. Lemos-Espinal 2010. Amphibians and reptiles of the state of Queretaro, Mexico. Tlalnepantla UNAM, 428 pp.
  • Duellman, William E. 1958. A preliminary analysis of the herpetofauna of Colima, Mexico. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (589): 1-22 - get paper here
  • Duméril, M. A.; M. F. Bocourt, and F. Mocquard 1870. Etudes sur les reptiles, p. i-xiv, 1-1012. In: Recherches Zoologiques pour servir a l'Histoire de Ia Faune de l'Amérique Centrale et du Mexique. Mission Scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amérique Centrale, Recherches zoologiques. Imprimerie Imper., Paris (published in parts 1870-1909) - get paper here
  • Dundee, Harold A.;Liner, Ernest A. 1997. Geographic Distribution. Trimorphodon tau tau. Herpetological Review 28 (4): 211 - get paper here
  • Enderson, Erik F.; Thomas R. Van Devender, Robert L. Bezy 2014. Amphibians and reptiles of Yécora, Sonora and the Madrean Tropical Zone of the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwestern Mexico. Check List 10 (4): 913-926 - get paper here
  • Fernández-Badillo, Leonardo, David R. Aguillón-Gutiérrez, Sharon Yedid Valdez-Rentería, Juan Alfonso Hernández-Melo, Cristian Raùl Olvera Olvera, Francisco Javier Callejas-Jiménez, Melisa Hernández-Ramos, José Carlos Iturbe-Morgado, Ferdinand Torres- 2016. First records for amphibians and reptiles from the municipality of Atotonilco el Grande, Hidalgo, México. Herpetological Review 47 (1): 91-93 - get paper here
  • Fernández-Badillo, Leonardo & Irene Goyenechea-Mayer Goyenechea 2010. Anfibios y reptiles del valle del Mezquital, Hidalgo, México. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 81: 705- 712
  • Fernández-Badillo, Leonardo; Norma Leticia Manríquez-Morán; Jesús Martín Castillo-Cerón & Irene Goyenechea 2016. Análisis herpetofaunístico de la zona árida del estado de Hidalgo. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 156–170 - get paper here
  • Garman, Samuel 1884. The reptiles and batrachians of North America. Mem. Mus. comp. Zool, Cambridge (Massachusetts), 8 (3): xxxiv + 185 pp. [1883] [CNAH reprint 10] - get paper here
  • 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
  • Hall, Charles W. 1951. Notes on a small herpetological collection from Guerreo. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 34 (4): 201-212 - get paper here
  • Hardy, L.M., & McDiarmid, R.W. 1969. The amphibians and reptiles of Sinaloa, Mexico. Univ. Kansas Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist. 18 (3): 39-252. - get paper here
  • 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
  • Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 pp
  • Illescas-Aparicio, M., Clark-Tapia, R., González-Hernández, A., Vásquez-Díaz, Pedro R. & Aguirre-Hidalgo, V. 2016. Diversidad y riqueza herpetofaunística asociada al bosque de manejo forestal y áreas de cultivo, en Ixtlán de Juárez, Oaxaca. Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n.s.) 32(3): 359-369 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Sinaloa, Mexico with a conservation status summary and comparisons with neighboring states. ZooKeys 931: 85-114 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A conservation checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of the State of Mexico, Mexico with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 953: 137-159 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A conservation checklist of the herpetofauna of Morelos, with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 941: 121-144 - 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, Pierce LJS, Painter CW 2020. The amphibians and reptiles of Colima, Mexico, with a summary of their conservation status. ZooKeys 927: 99-125 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Rorabaugh JC 2019. A conservation checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Sonora, Mexico, with updated species lists. ZooKeys 829: 131-160 - 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.
  • Lemos-Espinal, Julio A., Geoffrey R. Smith 2015. Amphibians and reptiles of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. Check List 11 (3): 1642 - get paper here
  • Leyte-Manrique A, Mata-Silva V, Báez-Montes O, Fucsko LA, DeSantis DL, García-Padilla E, Rocha A, Johnson JD, Porras LW, Wilson LD. 2022. The herpetofauna of Guanajuato, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 16(2) [General Section: 133–180 (e321) - get paper here
  • Leyte-Manrique, Adrian; Christian Berriozabal-Islas, Vicente Mata-Silva, and Juan Pablo Morales-Castorena 2018. Herpetofaunal diversity in Área Natural Protegida Las Musas, Guanajuato, Mexico. Mesoamerican Herpetology 5 (1): 122–136 - get paper here
  • Leyte-Manrique, Adrian; Efrén M. Hernández Navarro y Luis A. Escobedo-Morales 2015. Herpetofauna de Guanajuato: Un análisis histórico y contemporáneo de su conocimiento. Revista Mexicana de Herpetología 1(1): 1–14
  • Loc-Barragán JA, Smith GR, Woolrich-Piña GA, Lemos-Espinal JA 2024. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nayarit, Mexico with conservation status and comparison with adjoining States. Herpetozoa 37: 25-42 - get paper here
  • Luja VH, López JA, Cruz-Elizalde R, Ramírez-Bautista A 2017. Herpetofauna inside and outside from a natural protected area: the case of Reserva Estatal de la Biósfera Sierra San Juan, Nayarit, Mexico. Nature Conservation 21: 15-38 - get paper here
  • Manzano, R. L., Bazan, E. C. and Allende, G. M. 2020. Trimorphodon tau (Mexican lyresnake). Diet. Herpetological Review 51: 159 - get paper here
  • Martin, Plul S. 1958. A biogeography of reptiles and amphibians in the Gomez Farias Region, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Miscellaneous publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (101): 1-102 + 7 plates - get paper here
  • Mata-Silva, Vicente, Jerry D. Johnson, Larry David Wilson and Elí García-Padilla. 2015. The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: composition, physiographic distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (1): 6–62 - get paper here
  • McCranie, J.R. & Wilson, L.D. 2001. The herpetofauna of the Mexican State of Aguascalientes. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 230: 1-57
  • McDiarmid R W; Scott, N.J. 1970. Geographic variation and systematics status of Mexican lyre snakes of the Trimorphodon tau group (Colubridae). Contributions in Science, Los Angeles 179: 1-43 - get paper here
  • MURPHY R. W., SMITH A. and NGO A. 2007. The versions of Cope's Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 7 (1): - 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
  • Palacios-Aguilar, Ricardo & OSCAR FLORES-VILLELA 2018. An updated checklist of the herpetofauna from Guerrero, Mexico. Zootaxa 4422 (1): 1-24 - get paper here
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1870. Über mexicanische Amphibien, welche Hr. Berkenbusch in Puebla auf Veranlassung des Hrn. Legationsraths von Schlözer dem zoologischen Museum zugesandt hat. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1869 (December): 874-881 - get paper here
  • Quintero-Díaz, G. E., and R. A. Carbajal-Márquez. 2017. Trimorphodon tau Cope, 1870. Maximum elevation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(1): 183–184 - get paper here
  • QUINTERO-DIAZ, G. E., R. A. CARBAJAL-MARQUEZ, C. CHAVEZ-FLORIANO, T. RAMIREZ-VALVERDE, R. ROQUE-LOZANO, AND M. F. BRIONES-RODRIGUEZ 2020. Geographic Distribution: Trimorphodon tau (Mexican Lyresnake). Mexico: Aguascalientes. Herpetological Review 51: 276.
  • Rosas-Espinoza, V.C.; Rodríguez-Zaragoza, F.A.; Álvarez-Grzybowska, E.; Peña-Joya, K.E.; Santiago-Pérez, A.L.; Godoy-González, A.A.; Huerta-Martínez, F.M. 2024. Taxonomic and Functional Diversity of Reptiles in a Heterogeneous Landscape of Jalisco State, West-Central Mexico. Diversity 2024, 16, 394 - get paper here
  • Salcido-Rodríguez, Israel; Francisco Isaac Hernández-Valadez , Adriana Elizabeth Castillo-Franco , Daniel Cruz-Sáenz , Edgar Emmanuel Hernández-Juárez , David Lazcano , Lydia Allison Fucsko and Larry David Wilson 2023. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Western Mexico 31: Herpetofauna from Sierra de Tesistán, Zapopan,. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 58(10):165-171 - get paper here
  • Schmidt, Karl P.;Shannon, Frederick A. 1947. Notes on amphibians and reptiles of Michoacan, Mexico. Zoological Series of Field Museum of Natural History 31 (9): 63-85
  • Scott N J Jr; McDiarmid R W 1984. Trimorphodon Cope. Lyre snakes. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 352: 1-2 - get paper here
  • Scott N J Jr; McDiarmid R W 1984. Trimorphodon tau Cope. Mexican lyre snake. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 354: 1-2 - get paper here
  • SIGALA-RODRÍGUEZ, JOSÉ JESÚS; RUBÉN ALONSO CARBAJAL-MÁRQUEZ, LEONARDO FERNÁNDEZ-BADILLO & JUAN MIGUEL BORJA JIMÉNEZ. 2022. TRIMORPHODON TAU (Mexican Lyresnake). DIET. Herpetological Review 53 (1): 161.
  • Smith, H.M. & Taylor,E.H. 1950. An annotated checklist and key to the reptiles of Mexico exclusive of the snakes. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 199: 1-253 - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1941. Notes on the snake genus Trimorphodon. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 91 (3130): 149-168 - get paper here
  • Smith, Philip W.;Darling, Donald M. 1952. Results of a herpetological collection from eastern central Mexico. Herpetologica 8: 81-86 - get paper here
  • Tanner, Wilmer W. 1985. Snakes of Western Chihuahua. Great Basin Naturalist 45 (4): 615-676 - get paper here
  • Taylor, Edward H. 1939. On Mexican snakes of the genera Trimorphodon and Hypsiglena. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 25 (16): 357-383 [1938] - get paper here
  • Taylor, Edward H. 1939. Some Mexican serpents. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 26 (13): 445-487 - get paper here
  • Taylor,E.H. 1949. A preliminary account of the herpetology of the state of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 33 (2): 169-215 - get paper here
  • Tepos-Ramírez M, Garduño-Fonseca FS, Peralta-Robles CA, García-Rubio OR, Cervantes Jiménez R 2023. Annotated checklist of amphibians and reptiles from Querétaro, Mexico, including new records, and comments on controversial species. Check List 19(2): 269-292 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Torres-Hernández, LA, Ramírez-Bautista A, Cruz-Elizalde R, Hernández-Salinas U, Berriozabal-Islas C, DeSantis DL, Johnson JD, Rocha A, García-Padilla E, Mata-Silva V, Fucsko LA, and Wilson LD. 2021. The herpetofauna of Veracruz, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 15(2) [General Section]: 72–155 - 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
  • Vázquez Díaz, Joel;Quintero Díaz, Gustavo E. 2005. Anfibios y Reptiles de Aguascalientes [2nd ed.]. CONABIO, CIEMA, 318 pp.
  • Vite-Silva, Victor D.; Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista y Uriel Hernández-Salinas 2010. Diversidad de anfibios y reptiles de la Reserva de la Biosfera Barranca de Metztitlán, Hidalgo, México Diversity of amphibians and reptiles from the Barranca de Metztitlán Biosphera Reserve in Hidalgo, Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 81: 473- 485 - 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.
  • Woolrich-Piña, G. A., E. García-Padilla, D. L. DeSantis, J. D. Johnson, V. Mata-Silva, and L. D. Wilson 2017. The herpetofauna of Puebla, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(4): 791–884 - get paper here
  • Woolrich-Piña, Guillermo A, Paulino Ponce-Campos, Jesús Loc-Barragán, Juan Pablo Ramírez-Silva, Vicente Mata-Silva, Jerry D. Johnson, Elí García-Padilla and Larry David Wilson. 2016. The herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (2): 376-448 - get paper here
  • Zweifel,R.G. and Norris,K.S. 1955. Contributions to the herpetology of Sonora, Mexico:Descriptions of new subspecies of snakes (Micruroides euryxanthus and Lampropeltis getulus) and miscellaneous collecting notes. American Midland Naturalist 54: 230-249 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Trimorphodon&species=tau

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator