Mexican Black-Headed Snake (Tantilla atriceps)
Description: A tiny (6 to 8 inch) secretive snake of the aridlands. This and the very similar Southwestern black-headed snake cannot be differentiated externally. Use range as an identifier. Ranges do not overlap. Black cap has an even to weakly convex posterior edge that terminates ½ to 3 scale rows posterior to parietal plates. Dorsum grayish brown to brown; belly orange, brightest posteriorly. May have a vague slightly darker vertebral stripe. Use range as an identifier. Oviparous. Scales smooth in 15 rows. Black cap has an even to weakly convex posterior edge that terminates 1/2 to 3 scale rows posterior to parietal plates.
This and the very similar Southwestern black-headed snake cannot be differentiated externally. Black cap has an even posterior edge. Dorsum grayish brown to brown; belly orange, brightest posteriorly. Use range as an identifier.
Habitat: Habitats include wooded and grassland/thorn brush communities (Tennant 1998). The species ranges from desert flats to wooded mountain canyons.
Range: The range includes a disjunct population in southern Texas; the main portion of the range is in Mexico in Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas
Found in these States:
TX
Diet: Prey items include many species of suitably sized invertebrates, especially arthropods
Reproduction: Lays clutch of probably 1-3 eggs.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its fairly wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Squamata - Scaled Reptiles
»» Suborder: Serpentes
»» Superfamily: Colubroidea
»» Family: Colubridae - Colubrids
»» Genus: Tantilla
»» Species: Tantilla atriceps - Mexican Black-Headed Snake
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tantilla atriceps", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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