Tantilla cuniculator SMITH, 1939

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Higher Taxa	Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Peten Centipede Snake S: Centipedívora Maya
Synonym	Tantilla moesta cuniculator SMITH 1939:32 Tantilla cuniculator — SMITH 1942: 33 Tantilla cuniculator — WILSON et al. 1977 Tantilla cuniculator — LINER 1994 Tantilla cuniculator — LINER 2007 Tantilla cuniculator — WILSON & MATA-SILVA 2014: 29 Tantilla cuniculator — WALLACH et al. 2014: 700
Distribution	Mexico (Yucatan, Quintana Roo), N Belize, Guatemala Elevation: 10-200 m (WILSON & MATA-SILVA 2014) Type locality: Mexico, Yucatan, Merida.
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Holotype: FMNH 19408, juvenile female
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: Similar to Tantilla moesta, having seven supralabials, two postoculars, rostral scarcely visible from above, a broad frontal and a light, dark-bordered nuchal collar; differing from moesta in number of subcaudals (49 to 53), absence of pigment on ventral scales, presence of a dark lateral area sharply differentiated from a somewhat lighter dorsal color, snout light, and a small or large light spot behind eye [from SMITH 1939]. Additional details (3856 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Abundance: rare; Wilson et al. 1977 reported that only 5 specimens are known.
Etymology	The name cuniculator is derived from “the Latin cuniculus, meaning ‘a rabbit or underground passage’ and by extension, a ‘burrow’ and –ator, meaning ‘of or characterized by,’ in reference to the semifossorial habits of this snake” (Wilson, 1985).
References	Aguilar-López JL, Luría-Manzano R, Pineda E, Canseco-Márquez L 2021. Selva Zoque, Mexico: an important Mesoamerican tropical region for reptile species diversity and conservation. ZooKeys 1054: 127-153 - get paper here Campbell, J.A. 1998. Amphibians and reptiles of northern Guatemala, the Yucatán, and Belize. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, xiii + 380 pp. - get paper here Campbell, Jonathan A. 1998. Comments on the identities of certain Tantilla (Squamata: Colubridae) from Guatemala, with descriptions of two new species. Scientific Papers, Natural History Museum, University of Kansas, (7):1-14. - get paper here Cedeño-Vázquez, J. Rogelio, Pablo M. Beutelspacher-García and Nidia Gabriela Blanco-Campos. 2016. Distribution Notes. Tantilla cuniculator Smith, 1939. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (1): 192 - get paper here Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 pp Lee, J. C. 2000. A field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of the Maya world. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, Lee, J.C. 1996. The amphibians and reptiles of the Yucatán Peninsula. Comstock, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 500 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 NAHUAT, P. E., A. E. ROSS, AND J. A. L. BARAO-NOBREGA 2020. Tantilla cuniculator (Yucatán Centipede Snake). Arboreal Behavior. Herpetological Review 51: 629. Ortiz-Medina, Javier A., Daniel E. Chan-Espinoza and Elí García-Padilla. 2016. Distribution Notes. Tantilla cuniculator Smith, 1939. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (1): 193 - get paper here Smith, H.M. 1942. A resume of Mexican snakes of the genus Tantilla. Zoologica 27: 33-42. - get paper here Smith, Hobart M. 1939. Notes on Mexican reptiles and amphibians. Zoological Series of Field Museum of Natural History 24 (4): 15-35 - get paper here Stafford, P.J. 2004. A new speciesof Tantilla (Serpentes; Colubridae) of the taeniata group from Southern Belize. Journal of Herpetology 38 (1): 43-52 - get paper here Townsend, Josiah H.; Larry David Wilson, Melissa Medina-Flores, and Luis A. Herrera-B. 2013. A New Species of Centipede Snake in the Tantilla taeniata Group (Squamata: Colubridae) from Premontane Rainforest in Refugio De Vida Silvestre Texíguat, Honduras. Journal of Herpetology Mar 2013, Vol. 47, No. 1: 191-200. - 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, 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 Wilson, Larry David;McCranie, James R.;Porras, Louis 1977. Taxonomic notes on Tantilla (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Tropical America. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 76 (1): 49-56 - 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 cuniculator. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 367: 1 - get paper here Wilson,L.D. & McCranie,J.R. 1999. The systematic status of Honduran populations of the Tantilla taeniata group (Serpentes: Colubridae), with notes on other populations. Amphibia-Reptilia 20 (3): 326-329 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List https://www.facebook.com/groups/stshc/posts/439685168256087 Google images

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