GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND NATURAL HISTORY OF Tantilla schistosa (SQUAMATA: COLUBRIDAE)

Authors

  • Maisie G. MacKnight Pennsylvania State University
  • Roberto Luna-Reyes 2Dirección de Áreas Naturales y Vida Silvestre, Secretaría de Medio Ambiente e Historia Natural
  • Adam G. Clause Department of Herpetology, San Diego Natural History Museum

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22201/fc.25942158e.2024.1.806

Keywords:

Chiapas, conservation, diet, habitat, eevation, Micrurus diastema, Serpentes, Veracruz

Abstract

AAlthough snakes of the genus Tantilla are widespread throughout much of the Western Hemisphere, many aspects of their distribution and ecology remain unknown.  Here, we present additional distribution records of Tantilla schistosa in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. We also explore the inconsistent literature regarding the distributional and elevational range of the species, and augment knowledge of its habitat, predator-prey relationships, and conservation status. Our work highlights the value of using multiple data sources to produce a better understanding of the geographic distribution and natural history of little-known species

References

Bello-Sánchez, E.A., C.A. Delfín-Alfonso, C. Pérez-Alvarado & F. Lara-Hernández. 2021. Noteworthy dietary records of the Variable Coral Snake Micrurus diastema (Serpentes: Elapidae) in America. North-western Journal of Zoology 17:100-105 (e211507).

Bocourt, M.F. 1883. In A. Duméril, M. F. Bocourt, and F. Mocquard (1870–1909), Etudes sur les reptiles, p. i–xiv, 1–1012. In Recherches Zoologiques pour servir a l’Histoire de Ia Faune de l’Amérique Centrale et du Mexique. Mission Scientifique au Mexique et dans l’Amér Imprimerie Impériale, Paris, France

Campbell, J.A. 1998. Amphibians and Reptiles of Northern Guatemala, the Yucatán, and Belize. University of Oklahoma Press.

Clause, A.G., R. Luna-Reyes, O.M. Mendoza-Velázquez, A. Nieto-Montes de Oca & I. Solano-Zavaleta. 2024. Bridging the gap: a new species of arboreal Abronia (Squamata: Anguidae) from the Northern Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. PLoS ONE 19:e0295230.

de la Torre-Loranca, M.A., R.G. Martínez-Fuentes, L. Canseco-Marquez & U.O. García-Vázquez. 2020. New records of amphibians and reptiles from Sierra de Zongolica, Veracruz and Puebla, Mexico. Herpetological Review 51:550-553.

Ferreira-García, M.E. 2005. Estudio de la herpetofauna del Monumento Natural Yaxchilán, Chiapas México. Tesis de Licenciatura. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. México.

Ferreira-García, M.E. & L. Canseco-Marquez. 2006. Estudio de la herpetofauna del Monumento Natural Yaxchilán, Chiapas, México. Pp. 293–310. In A. Ramírez Bautista, L. Canseco Márquez & F. Mendoza Quijano, (Eds.), Inventarios Herpetofaunísticos de México: Avances en el Conocimiento de su Biodiversidad. Publicaciones de la Sociedad Herpetológica Mexicana, A. C., No. 3, Mexico, D. F., México.

Heimes, P. 2016. Herpetofauna Mexicana Volume I: Snakes of Mexico. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Hidalgo-García, J.A. 2008. Diversidad de reptiles del Parque Nacional Cañón del Sumidero, Chiapas, México. Tesis de Licenciatura. Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas. México.

Hortal J., F. de Bello, J.A.F. Diniz-Filho, T.M. Lewinsohn, J.M. Lobo & R.J. Ladle. 2015. Seven shortfalls that beset large-scale knowledge of biodiversity. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 46:523-549.

Johnson, J.D. 1989. A biogeographic analysis of the herpetofauna of northwestern Nuclear Central America. Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology 76:1-66.

Johnson, J.D., V. Mata-Silva, E. García-Padilla & L.D. Wilson. 2015. The herpetofauna of Chiapas, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2:272-329.

Köhler, G. 2003. Reptiles of Central America. Herpeton, Verlag Elke Köhler, Offenbach, Germany.

Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America, Second Edition. Herpeton, Verlag Elke Köhler, Offenbach, Germany.

Lara-Galván, J.L., M. Montesino-San Martin, J.F. Martínez-Montoya, J.J. Sigala-Rodríguez, J.A. Bañuelos-Alamillo, M. Barbosa. 2023. Assessing the distribution of the West Mexican Coralsnake, Micrurus distans Kennicott, 1860, in Zacatecas State, Mexico, using modelling based on multiple data sources. Herpetology Notes 16:827-836.

Lee, J., R.C. Mandujano, M.A. López-Luna, L.D. Wilson & J.H. Townsend. 2013. Tantilla schistosa (errata version published in 2017), in: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022-2. http://www.iucnredlist.org [Consulted in February 2023].

Lee, J.C. 1996. The Amphibians and Reptiles of the Yucatán Peninsula. Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, USA.

Luja, V.H. 2006. Geographic distribution. Tantilla schistosa (Red Earth Centipede Snake): México, Quintana Roo, Municipality of Othon P. Blanco. Herpetological Review 37:481-512.

Luna-Reyes, R., L. Canseco-Márquez, y E. Hernández-García. 2013. Los reptiles. Pp. 319–328 En La Biodiversidad en Chiapas: Estudio de Estado. Volumen II. Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO) (Ed.). Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad /Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas, México.

McCraine, J.R. 2011. The Snakes of Honduras: Systematics, Distribution, and Conservation. The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, New York, USA.

Nogueira, C.C., A.J.S. Argôlo, V. Arzamendia, J.A. Azevedo, F.E. Barbo, R.S. Bérnils, B.E. Bolochio, M. Borges-Martins, M. Brasil-Godinho, H. Braz, M.A. Buononato, D.F. Cisneros-Heredia, G.R. Colli, H.C. Costa, F.L. Franco, A. Giraudo, R.C. Gonzalez, T. Guedes, M.S. Hoogmoed, O.A.V. Marques, G.G. Montingelli, P. Passos, A.L.C. Prudente, G.A. Rivas, P.M. Sanchez, F.C. Serrano, N.J. Silva Jr., C. Strüssmann, J.P.S. Vieira-Alencar, H. Zaher, R.J. Sawaya & M. Martins. 2019. Atlas of Brazilian snakes: verified point-locality maps to mitigae the Wallacean shortfall in a megadiverse snake fauna. South American Journal of Herpetology 14:1-274.

Palacios-Aguilar R., L.A. Fucsko, V.H. Jiménez-Arcos, L.D. Wilson & V. Mata-Silva. 2022. Out of the past: a new species of Tantilla of the calamarina group (Squamata: Colubridae) from southeastern coastal Guerrero, Mexico, with comments on relationships among members of the group. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 16:120-132 (e320).

Ray, J.M. 2017. Snakes of Panama: A Field Guide to All Species. Team Snake Panama, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, USA.

Reyes-Velasco, J. & R. Ramírez-Chaparro. 2019. Algunas sugerencias para el formato de listados herpetofaunísticos de México. Revista Latinoamericana de Herpetología 2:103-106.

Rodriguez Garcia, J., G. Pérez-Higareda, H.M. Smith & D. Chiszar. 1998. Micrurus diastema and M. limbatus (Diastema Coral Snake and Tuxtlan Coral Snake, respectively). Diet. Herpetological Review 29:45.

Sánchez-Salas, J., G. Muro, E. Estrada-Castillón & J.A. Alba-Ávila. 2013. El MER: un instrumento para evaluar el riesgo de extinción de especies en México. Revista Chapingo Serie Zonas Áridas 12:30-35.

Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna Between Two Continents, Between Two Seas. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Schätti, B. & A. Stutz. 2016. A Short Account of the Snakes of Southern Oaxaca, Mexico. Booklet self-published (pdf format only) in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico. ISBN 978-607-00-9873-4.

Seib, R.L. 1985. Feeding ecology and organization of Neotrpical snake faunas. Ph.D. Thesis. University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.

Solórzano, A. 2004. Serpientes de Costa Rica: Distribución, Taxonomía e Historia Natural / Snakes of Costa Rica: Distribution, Taxonomy, and Natural History. Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica.

Solórzano, A. 2022. Serpientes de Costa Rica: Distribución, Taxonomía e Historia Natural. 2° Edicion. Litografía y Imprenta LIL S.A., Tibás, San José, Costa Rica.

Stafford, P.J. & J.R. Meyer. 2000. A Guide to the Reptiles of Belize. Academic Press, The Natural History Museum, London, UK.

Stafford, P.J., P. Walker, P. Edgar & M.G. Penn. 2010. Distribution and conservation of the herpetofauna of Belize. Pp. 370–404. In L. D. Wilson, J. H. Townsend & J. D. Johnson, (Eds.), Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, USA.

Taylor, E.H. 1951. A brief review of the snakes of Costa Rica. The University of Kansas Science Bulletin 34:3-188.

Wallach, V., K.L. Williams & J. Boundy. 2014. Snakes of the World: a Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.

Wilson, E.O. 2017. Biodiversity research requires more boots on the ground. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1:1590-1591. doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0360-y

Wilson, L.D. 1982. A review of the colubrid snakes of the genus Tantilla of Central America. Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology 52:1-77

Wilson, L.D. 1987. Tantilla schistosa. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 409:1-2

Wilson, L.D. & J.D. Johnson. 2010. Distributional patterns of the herpetofauna of Mesoamerica, a biodiversity hotspot. Pp. 30–235. In L. D. Wilson, J. H. Townsend & J. D. Johnson, (Eds.), Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, USA.

Wilson, L.D. & V. Mata-Silva. 2014. Snakes of the genus Tantilla (Squamata: Colubridae) in Mexico: taxonomy, distribution, and conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1:4-95.

Wilson, L.D. & V. Mata-Silva. 2015. A checklist and key to the snakes of the Tantilla clade (Squamata: Colubridae), with comments on taxonomy, distribution, and conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2:418-498.

Downloads

Published

2024-03-07

How to Cite

MacKnight, M., Luna-Reyes, R., & Clause, A. (2024). GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND NATURAL HISTORY OF Tantilla schistosa (SQUAMATA: COLUBRIDAE). Revista Latinoamericana De Herpetología, 7(1), e806 (112 – 122). https://doi.org/10.22201/fc.25942158e.2024.1.806