Tantilla hobartsmithi
| Tantilla hobartsmithi | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Genus: | Tantilla |
| Species: | T. hobartsmithi
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| Binomial name | |
| Tantilla hobartsmithi Taylor, 1936
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| Synonyms[2] | |
Tantilla hobartsmithi, commonly known as Smith's black-headed snake and the southwestern blackhead snake, is a species of small snake in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and adjacent northern Mexico.
Etymology
[edit]The specific name or epithet, hobartsmithi, is in honor of American zoologist and herpetologist Hobart M. Smith (1912–2013).[3]
Taxonomy and systematics
[edit]Tantilla hobartsmithi was first described by Edward Harrison Taylor in 1936.
Description
[edit]The southwestern blackhead snake is a small snake, growing to a maximum total length (tail included) of 15 in (38 cm),[4] but typically averaging around 8 in (20 cm) in total length.
Dorsally, it is uniformly brown in color, except for the black-colored head, which gives it its common name, and a cream-colored or white collar. On the belly, there is a broad reddish stripe, which runs down the center of the ventral scales.[4]
Venom
[edit]Tantilla hobartsmithi is rear-fanged, having enlarged rear teeth and a modified saliva, which while harmless to mammals, is believed to be toxic to arthropods, its primary prey.[4]
Behavior
[edit]Blackhead snakes (genus Tantilla) are primarily nocturnal and fossorial, spending most of their time hiding in loose soil, leaf litter, or under ground debris.[4]
Diet
[edit]Blackhead snakes eat most varieties of soft-bodied insects, centipedes, millipedes, and spiders.[4]
Reproduction
[edit]Tantilla hobartsmithi is oviparous.[2] Clutch size is only one to three eggs, which are laid in June, July, or August.[4]
Geographic range
[edit]The southwestern blackhead snake is found in the southwestern United States, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah, as well as in northern Mexico, in Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Sonora.[5]
Habitat
[edit]The preferred natural habitats of Tantilla hobartsmithi are desert, grassland, shrubland, and forest,[1] at altitudes from sea level to 1,981 m (6,499 ft).[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Frost, D.R.; Hammerson, G.A.; Santos-Barrera, G. (2007). "Tantilla hobartsmithi ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007: e.T63947A12730643. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63947A12730643.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
- ^ a b c Species Tantilla hobartsmithi at 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 hobartsmithi, p. 247).
- ^ a b c d e f Stebbins RC (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. xiii + 533 pp. ISBN 0-395-98272-3 (paperback). (Tantilla hobartsmithi, p. 400 + Figures 28 & 29 on p. 398 + Map 177 on p. 503).
- ^ "Tantilla hobartsmithi ". Discover Life. Retrieved July 9, 2006.
Further reading
[edit]- Blanchard, F.N. (1938). "Snakes of the Genus Tantilla in the United States". Zoological Series, Field Museum of Natural History 20 (28): 369–376. (Tantilla utahensis, new species, p. 372).
- Clause, Adam G.; Clevinger, Philip (2015). "Geographic Distribution. Tantilla hobartsmithi (Smith's Black-headed Snake)". Herpetological Review. 46 (1): 63.
- Cole, C.J.; Hardy, L.M. (1983). "Tantilla hobartsmithi Taylor, Smith's black-headed snake". Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. 318: 1–2.
- Heimes, P. (2016). Snakes of Mexico: Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. I. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Edition Chimaira. ISBN 978-3899731002. 572 pp.
- Taylor, E.H. (1936). "Notes and Comments on Certain American and Mexican Snakes of the Genus Tantilla, with Descriptions of New Species". Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 39: 335–348. (Tantilla hobartsmithi, new species, p. 340).
External links
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