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Trimorphodon tau COPE, 1870

IUCN Red List - Trimorphodon tau - Least Concern, LC
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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 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] 
Diagnosis 
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
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