Tantilla

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: Colubridae
Subfamilia: Colubrinae
Genus: Tantilla
Species (66): T. albiceps – T. alticola – T. andinista – T. armillata – T. atriceps – T. bairdi – T. berguidoi – T. bocourti – T. boipiranga – T. brevicauda – T. briggsi – T. calamarina – T. capistrata – T. cascadae – T. ceboruca – T. coronadoi – T. coronata – T. cucullata – T. cuniculator – T. deppei – T. excelsa – T. flavilineata – T. gottei – T. gracilis – T. hendersoni – T. hobartsmithi – T. impensa – T. insulamontana – T. jani – T. johnsoni – T. lempira – T. melanocephala – T. miyatai – T. moesta – T. nigra – T. nigriceps – T. oaxacae – T. olympia – T. oolitica – T. petersi – T. planiceps – T. psittaca – T. relicta – T. reticulata – T. robusta – T. rubra – T. ruficeps – T. schistosa – T. semicincta – T. sertula – T. shawi – T. slavensi – T. stenigrammi – T. striata – T. supracincta – T. taeniata – T. tayrae – T. tecta – T. tjiasmantoi – T. trilineata – T. triseriata – T. tritaeniata – T. vermiformis – T. vulcani – T. wilcoxi – T. yaquia
Name

Tantilla Baird & Girard, 1853: 131

Type species: Tantilla coronata Baird & Girard, 1853, by subsequent designation.

References
Primary references

Baird, S.F. & Girard, C. 1853. Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part 1.–Serpents. Smithsonian Institution: Washington. xvi + 172 pp. BHL Reference page.

Additional references

McCranie, J.R. 2011. A new species of Tantilla of the taeniata species group (Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae, Colubrinae) from northeastern Honduras. Zootaxa 3037: 37–44. Preview.
Mata-Silva, V. & Wilson, L.D. 2016. The taxonomic status of Tantilla marcovani Lema 2004 (Squamata: Colubridae). Zootaxa 4092(3): 421–425. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4092.3.7.Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2021. Tantilla . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 23 June 2020.
Tantilla – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Amerikanische Schwarzkopfnattern
English: American Centipede Snakes

Tantilla is a large genus of harmless New World snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus includes 65 species, which are commonly known as centipede snakes, blackhead snakes, and flathead snakes.

Description

Tantilla are small snakes, rarely exceeding 20 cm (8 inches) in total length (including tail). They are generally varying shades of brown, red or black in color. Some species have a brown body with a black head.
Behavior

Tantilla are nocturnal, secretive snakes. They spend most of their time buried in the moist leaf litter of semi-forested regions or under rocks and debris.
Diet

The diet of snakes of the genus Tantilla consists primarily of invertebrates, including scorpions, centipedes, spiders, and various insects.
Species

Tantilla albiceps Barbour, 1925 - Barbour's centipede snake - Panama
Tantilla alticola (Boulenger, 1903) - Boulenger's centipede snake - Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia
Tantilla andinista Wilson & Mena, 1980 - Andes centipede snake - Ecuador
Tantilla armillata Cope, 1876 - Costa Rica, El Salvador
Tantilla atriceps (Günther, 1895) - Mexican blackhead snake - USA (Arizona, Texas, New Mexico), northern Mexico
Tantilla bairdi Stuart, 1941 - Baird's black-headed snake[2] - Guatemala
Tantilla berguidoi Batista, Mebert, Lotzkat, & Wilson, 2016 - Chucantí centipede snake - Panama
Tantilla bocourti (Günther, 1895) - Bocourt's black-headed snake[2] - Mexico
Tantilla boipiranga Sawaya & Sazima, 2003 - Brazil
Tantilla brevicauda Mertens, 1952 - Mertens' centipede snake - El Salvador
Tantilla briggsi Savitzky & H.M. Smith, 1971 - Briggs' centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla calamarina Cope, 1876 - Pacific Coast centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla capistrata Cope, 1876 - Capistrata centipede snake - Peru
Tantilla cascadae Wilson & Meyer, 1981 - Michoacán centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla ceboruca Canseco-Márquez et al., 2007 - Mexico
Tantilla coronadoi Hartweg, 1944 - Guerreran centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla coronata Baird & Girard, 1853 - southeastern crowned snake - southeastern United States
Tantilla cucullata Minton, 1956 - Big Bend blackhead snake - USA (Texas), Mexico
Tantilla cuniculator H.M. Smith, 1939 - Peten centipede snake - south Mexico, Belize, Guatemala
Tantilla deppei (Bocourt) - Deppe's centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla excelsa McCranie & Smith, 2017 - Honduras
Tantilla flavilineata H.M. Smith & Burger, 1950 - yellow-lined centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla gottei McCranie & Smith, 2017 - Honduras
Tantilla gracilis Baird & Girard, 1853 - flathead snake - southwestern United States, northern Mexico[3]
Tantilla hendersoni Stafford, 2004 - Peten centipede snake - Belize
Tantilla hobartsmithi Taylor, 1936 - southwestern blackhead snake - southwestern United States, northern Mexico
Tantilla impensa Campbell, 1998 - Guatemala
Tantilla insulamontana Wilson & Mena, 1980 - mountain centipede snake - Ecuador
Tantilla ani (Günther, 1895) - Jan's centipede snake - Mexico, Guatemala
Tantilla johnsoni Wilson, Vaughn & Dixon, 1999 - Mexico
Tantilla lempira Wilson & Mena, 1980 - Mena's centipede snake - Honduras
Tantilla lydia Antúnez-Fonseca, Castro, España, Townsend, & Wilson, 2020 - Honduras
Tantilla melanocephala (Linnaeus, 1758) - blackhead snake - Mexico, Central and South America.
Tantilla miyatai Wilson & Knight, 1987 - Ecuador
Tantilla moesta (Günther, 1863) - blackbelly centipede snake - Mexico, Guatemala, Belize
Tantilla nigra (Boulenger, 1914) - black centipede snake - Colombia
Tantilla nigriceps Kennicott, 1860 - plains blackhead snake - southwestern United States, northern Mexico
Tantilla oaxacae Wilson & Meyer, 1971 - Oaxacan centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla olympia Townsend, Wilson, Medina-Flores, & Herrera, 2013 - Honduras
Tantilla oolitica Telford, 1966 - rim rock crowned snake - USA (Florida)
Tantilla petersi Wilson, 1979 - Peters' blackhead snake
Tantilla planiceps (Blainville, 1835) - western blackhead snake - United States (California), northern Mexico
Tantilla psittaca McCranie, 2011 - Honduras
Tantilla relicta Telford, 1966 - Florida crowned snake - USA (Florida)
Tantilla reticulata (Cope, 1860) - reticulate centipede snake - Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia
Tantilla robusta Canseco-Márquez, Mendelson & Gutiérrez-Mayén, 2002 - Mexico
Tantilla rubra Cope, 1876 - Big Bend blackhead snake - USA (Texas), Mexico
Tantilla ruficeps Cope, 1894 - Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama
Tantilla schistosa (Bocourt, 1883) - red earth centipede snake - Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama
Tantilla semicincta (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) - ringed centipede snake - Panama, Colombia, Venezuela
Tantilla sertula Wilson & Campbell, 2000 - Mexico
Tantilla shawi Taylor, 1949 - Potosí centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla slavensi Pérez-Higareda, H.M. Smith & R.B. Smith, 1985 - Slavens' centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla stenigrammi McCranie & Smith, 2017 - Honduras
Tantilla striata Dunn, 1928 - striped centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla supracincta (W. Peters, 1863) - banded centipede snake - Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador
Tantilla taeniata Bocourt, 1883 - Central American centipede snake - Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua
Tantilla tayrae Wilson, 1983 - Volcán Tacaná centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla tecta Campbell & E.N. Smith, 1997 - Guatemala
Tantilla tjiasmantoi (Koch & Venegas, 2016) - Tjiasmanto's centipede snake - Peru
Tantilla trilineata (W. Peters, 1880) - Brazilian three-lined centipede snake - Brazil
Tantilla triseriata H.M. Smith & P.W. Smith, 1951 - Mexican three-lined centipede snake - Mexico
Tantilla tritaeniata H.M. Smith & Williams, 1966 - three-banded centipede snake - Honduras
Tantilla vermiformis (Hallowell, 1861) - Hallowell's centipede snake - Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvator
Tantilla vulcani Campbell, 1998 - Guatemala
Tantilla wilcoxi Stejneger, 1902 - Chihuahuan blackhead snake - USA (Arizona), northern Mexico
Tantilla yaquia H.M. Smith, 1942 - Yaqui blackhead snake - USA (Arizona, New Mexico), Mexico

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Tantilla.
References

"Tantilla ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Tantilla bairdi, p. 14; T. bocourti, p. 29).

Hardy LM, Cole CJ (1968). "Morphological Variation in a Population of the Snake, Tantilla gracilis Baird and Girard". University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History. 17 (15): 613–629.