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Tantilla cucullata MINTON, 1956

IUCN Red List - Tantilla cucullata - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Big Bend Blackhead Snake 
SynonymTantilla cucullata MINTON 1956
Tantilla diabola FOUQUETTE & POTTER 1961
Tantilla rubra diabola — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 223
Tantilla rubra cucullata — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 224
Tantilla rubra cucullata — TENNANT & BARTLETT 2000: 48
Tantilla rubra diabola (fide DIXON et al. 2000)
Tantilla cucullata — CROTHER 2000
Tantilla cucullata — CROTHER et al. 2012
Tantilla cucullata — WALLACH et al. 2014: 700 
DistributionUSA (two disjunct populations in the Chisos and Davis mountains of Trans-Pecos, Texas), Mexico (Coahuila, Chihuahua)

Type locality: Texas, Brewster County, six miles south-southeast of Alpine; elevation about 5,000 feet.

diabola: USA (SW Texas: Two disjunct populations in the arid environs of the Pecos and Devil’s River systems, Pecos and Val Verde counties).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: FMNH 74384
Holotype: TNHC 24647 (male) [sinicola] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A Tantilla with an almost uniformly black head, the pigmentation including the chin and labials and terminating 3 to 4 scales posterior to the parietal; no light nuchal collar; mental barely in contact with anterior chin-shields; ventrals 167, subcaudals 82 (from MINTON 1956).


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CommentDistribution: Has been reported from Mexico but not listed in LINER 1994, nor Liner 2007.

Variation: Tantilla cucullata is one of a few species in the genus with two pattern morphs, in this case involving differences in head pattern (Wilson et al., 2000). 
EtymologyNamed after Latin cucullus = cap or hood, referring to the head flaps in this species. 
References
  • Baeza-Tarín, F., Hernández, T., Herr, M., Giovanetto, L., Lazcano, D., & Graham, S. P. 2025. NEW DISTRIBUTION RECORDS OF AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF MADERAS DEL CARMEN, COAHUILA, MEXICO. The Southwestern Naturalist, 68(4), 257-262 - get paper here
  • Baeza-Tarin, F; Hernandez, T; Giovanetto, L; Trevino, A E; Lazcano, D & Graham, S P 2018. Geographic Distribution: Tantilla cucullata ( Trans-Pecos Black-headed Snake). Herpetological Review 49 (3): 507-508 - get paper here
  • Bohannon, A M A; Neuharth, D B & Forstner, M R J; 2018. Geographic Distribution: Tantilla cucullata (Trans-Pecos Black-headed Snake). Herpetological Review 49 (4): 719 - 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
  • Degenhardt et al. 1976. The taxonomic status of Tantilla cucullata and Tantilla diabola. Texas Journal of Science 17: 225–234 - get paper here
  • Degenhardt, William G.;Milstead, William W. 1959. Notes on a second specimen of the snake Tantilla cucullata Minton. Herpetologica 15 (2): 158-159 - get paper here
  • Dixon, J.R. 2000. The taxonomy of Tantilla rubra and allied taxa (Serpentes: Colubridae). Southwestern Naturalist 45 (2): 141-153 - get paper here
  • Dixon, James R. 2000. Amphibians and reptiles of Texas, second edition. Texas A&M University Press, 421 pp.
  • Fouquette Jr., M.J.; Floyd E. Potter, Jr. 1961. A New Black-Headed Snake (Tantilla) from Southwestern Texas. Copeia 1961 (2): 144-148 - get paper here
  • Herr, M.W., Giovanetto, L.A., Black, M., Hernandez, J.C., Pérez, M.R.M. & Graham, S.P. 2017. Geographic Distribution: Tantilla cucullata (Trans-Pecos Black-headed Snake). Herpetological Review 48 (4): 816 - get paper here
  • Hillis, D. M.; Campbell, S. L. 1982. New localities for Tantilla rubra cucullata (Colubridae) and the distribution of its two morphotypes. Southwestern Naturalist 27 (2): 220-221 - get paper here
  • Irwin, K.J. and Collins, J.T. 1995. TANTILLA CUCULLATA (Blackhood Snake). Herpetological Review 26: 47 - 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
  • Liner, E.A. 1994. Scientific and common names for the Amphibians and Reptiles of Mexico in English and Spanish. Herpetological Circular 23: 1-113
  • Minton, S.A. Jr. 1956. A new snake of the genus Tantilla from west Texas. Fieldiana: Zoology 34 (39): 449-452 - 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.
  • 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.
  • Weidler, J M 2019. Protected areas of Texas in relation to Texas reptiles. Herpetological Review 50 (3): 462-473 - get paper here
  • 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, L.D., R.K. Vaughan, and J.R. Dixon 2000. Tantilla cucullata Minton Trans-Pecos Black-headed Snake. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (719): 1-2 - 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
 
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