Tachymenis

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Infraordo: Caenophidia
Superfamilia: Colubroidea

Familia: Dipsadidae
Subfamilia: Xenodontinae
Genus: Tachymenis
Species: T. affinis – T. attenuata – T. chilensis – T. elongata – T. peruviana – T. surinamensis – T. tarmensis
Name

Tachymenis Wiegmann, 1835
Vernacular names
English: Slender Snakes

T. chilensis (Schlegel, 1837) in Spanish = Culebra de cola corta (Chile)

Tachymenis is a genus of venomous snakes belonging to the family Colubridae. Species in the genus Tachymenis are commonly known as slender snakes or short-tailed snakes and are primarily found in southern South America. Tachymenis are rear-fanged (opisthoglyphous) and are capable of producing a medically significant bite, with at least one species, T. peruviana, responsible for human fatalities.[1]
Species

The following species are recognized by ITIS[2] and Reptile Database.[3]

Tachymenis affinis Boulenger, 1896
Tachymenis attenuata Walker, 1945
Tachymenis chilensis (Schlegel, 1837)
Tachymenis peruviana Wiegmann, 1835
Tachymenis tarmensis Walker, 1945

Other sources may recognize as many as 16 distinct species:[4][5]

Tachymenis affinis (Boulenger's slender snake)
Tachymenis attenuata (Walker's slender snake)
Tachymenis bitorquata
Tachymenis boulengerii
Tachymenis chilensis (Chilean slender snake, culebra de cola corta)
Tachymenis decipiens
Tachymenis dromiciformis
Tachymenis hypoconia
Tachymenis infralineatus
Tachymenis melanocephala
Tachymenis nototaenia
Tachymenis peruviana (Peru slender snake, cola corta del Perú)
Tachymenis surinamensis
Tachymenis taeniata
Tachymenis tarmensis (slender snake)

References

Mackessy, Stephen P. (June 2002). "Biochemistry and pharmacology of colubrid snake venoms". Journal of Toxicology: Toxin Reviews. 21 (1–2): 43–83. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.596.5081. doi:10.1081/TXR-120004741. "Most [colubrids] may not produce a venom capable of causing serious damage to humans, but at least five species (Dispholidus typus, Thelotornis capensis, Rhabdophis tigrinus, Philodryas olfersii and Tachymenis peruviana) have caused human fatalities."
"Tachymenis ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
"Tachymenis ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
Tachymenis. Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 3 March 2011.

Tachymenis (Genus). ZipcodeZoo.com, 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2017.

Further reading

Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus Tachymenis, pp. 117–118; T. peruviana, p. 118; T. affinis, new species, p. 119 + Plate VII, figure 1 [three views]).
Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Tachymenis, pp. 75, 76, 111).
Wiegmann AFA (1835). "Beiträge zur Zoologie, gesammelt auf einer Reise um die Erde, von Dr. F.J.F. Meyen, siebente Abhandlung. Amphibien ". Nova Acta Physico-Medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae 17: 185-268. (Tachymenis, new genus, pp. 251–252; T. peruviana, new species, pp. 252–253 + Plate XX, figure 1). (in German and Latin).