Herpetologica, 58(4), 2002, 492–497
q 2002 by The Herpetologists’ League, Inc.
A NEW SPECIES OF LARGE TANTILLA (SQUAMATA:
COLUBRIDAE) FROM THE SIERRA MADRE ORIENTAL OF
PUEBLA, MEXICO
LUIS CANSECO-MÁRQUEZ1, JOSEPH R. MENDELSON III2,4,
GUADALUPE GUTIÉRREZ-MAYÉN3
AND
Museo de Zoologı́a, Departamento de Biologı́a Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, A.P. 70-399, México, D.F. 04510
2
Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-5305, USA
3
Laboratorio de Herpetologı́a, Escuela de Biologı́a, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla,
C.P. 72570, Puebla, México
1
ABSTRACT: We describe a new large species of Tantilla from the Sierra Norte region of the
Sierra Madre Oriental of Puebla, Mexico. This species most closely resembles Tantilla schistosa in
color pattern, but differs by being much larger in size and having different scutellation. It differs
from all other species of Mexican Tantilla by having a uniformly dark brown dorsum and head, and
a pale cream venter.
Key words:
Colubridae; Mexico; New species; Puebla; Tantilla robusta
RECENT advances in our knowledge of
the diversity of the notoriously secretive
snakes of the genus Tantilla are attributable to continued field work in Latin
America (e.g., Campbell and Smith, 1997),
re-examination of material collected in
past decades (e.g., Wilson et al., 1999), and
careful revisions of complex groups (e.g.,
Campbell, 1998a; Dixon et al., 2000). Despite these efforts, a surprising number of
species of Tantilla are known from only
the holotype (see Wilson, 1999). Although
some species may be difficult to distinguish (e.g., species in the T. planiceps
group: Cole and Hardy, 1981), other species are quite distinctive (e.g., T. shawi:
Campbell et al., 1995). The majority of the
species has been placed into phenetic
groups (Wilson, 1999), but approximately
15 species remain unallocated; the phylogenetic relationships among species of
Tantilla are unknown. Mexico has the
greatest number of species of Tantilla of
any region (28 versus only 12 for all of
South America; Wilson, 1999). The Mexican state of Puebla covers a relatively large
area and includes a wide variety of habitats—from desert to cloud forest. Despite
these observations, only four species of
Tantilla are known from Puebla: T. bo4
CORRESPONDENCE: e-mail, sapo@biology.usu.edu
courti, T. calamarina, T. rubra (sensu Dixon et al., 2000), and the new species described herein.
MATERIALS
AND
METHODS
Terminology and characters included in
the diagnosis and descriptions follow the
format in Campbell (1998a) and citations
therein. Sex of the holotype was confirmed
by dissection. Head and scale measurements were taken using digital calipers and
were rounded to the nearest 0.1 mm. Body
and tail measurements were taken with a
metal rule. Drawings were made using a
stereomicroscope and attached camera lucida. Species groups referred to herein are
those of Wilson (1999). Comparisons to
other species were made with direct observations of specimens (Appendix I) and
comparisons with data presented in the literature (viz., Campbell, 1998a,b; Campbell and Smith, 1997; Campbell et al.,
1995; Dixon et al., 2000; Lee, 1996; PérezHigareda et al., 1985; Smith, 1942, 1962;
Stuart, 1941; Wilson, 1982, 1983, 1985,
1987, 1988, 1999; Wilson and Campbell,
2000; Wilson and Meyer, 1971, 1981,
1985; Wilson et al., 1999). For the sake of
brevity, the diagnosis here is formatted to
take advantage of the relative similarity of
species assigned to the phenetic groups
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December 2002]
HERPETOLOGICA
493
FIG. 1.—The holotype and only known specimen of T. robusta (EBUAP 1031); an adult female, SVL 5
395 mm.
recognized by Wilson (1999). Specific
comparisons to species not assigned to
these groups (see Wilson, 1999) are presented only for species bearing any superficial similarity to our specimen and/or are
known from geographically proximate localities. Museum acronyms are those of
Leviton et al. (1985), with the addition of
EBUAP (Laboratorio de Herpetologı́a,
Escuela de Biologı́a, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla) and MZFC
(Museo de Zoologı́a, Facultad de Ciencias,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México).
SYSTEMATICS
Tantilla robusta sp. nov.
Tantilla morgani—Canseco-Márquez et
al., 2000 [Misapplication]
Holotype.—EBUAP 1031, an adult female from Octimaxal Norte, 930 m, Municipio de Cuetzalan del Progreso, Sierra
Norte de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico (208 02.
7439 N, 978 30.1039 W); obtained by local
collectors for Luis Canseco-Márquez, on 4
March 1998.
Diagnosis.—Tantilla robusta (Figs. 1, 2)
differs from all members of the T. calamarina, T. taeniata, and T. melanocephala
species groups by lacking any trace of dorsal or lateral striping. It differs from all
members of the T. planiceps and T. coronata groups by having the dorsal head coloration similar to the dorsal coloration of
the body. Among the remaining 17 species
not allocated to species groups by Wilson
(1999), T. robusta resembles only three
other species: T. moesta, T. rubra, and T.
schistosa. Tantilla robusta differs from T.
moesta by having a uniformly pale cream
venter (versus uniformly dark brown) and
by having a shorter nuchal collar than is
typically seen in T. moesta (two dorsal
scale rows and tips of parietals versus from
2–7 dorsal scale rows and including variable amount of frontal and/or parietals).
Tantilla robusta differs from T. rubra by
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HERPETOLOGICA
FIG. 2.—Drawings of the dorsal, ventral, and lateral aspects of the head of the holotype of Tantilla
robusta (EBUAP 1031); scale bar 5 5 mm.
having a uniformly dark brown dorsal pattern and a cream venter (both areas pink
to pinkish red in T. rubra: Dixon et al.,
2000) and the head is the same color as
the dorsum (darker in T. rubra). Tantilla
robusta is superficially similar to the diminutive species T. schistosa, from which
it differs by being longer (395 mm SVL
versus 293 mm maximum SVL) and distinctly more robust; having more ventral
scales (153 versus 147 maximum: Wilson,
1987); by having the head wider than the
neck (head not wider than neck in T. schistosa); by having a large, distinct postocular
pale cream spot and numerous rostral and
labial pale cream spots (head mostly, or
entirely dark brown; a postocular cream
spot sometimes present in T. schistosa);
[Vol. 58, No. 4
and by having the nuchal collar and ventrum uniformly pale cream in life (frequently yellowish, reddish, or orange in T.
schistosa). Tantilla robusta is also superficially similar to T. bairdi, a species known
only from Guatemala, from which it differs
by having a cream venter [pink or orange,
(in preservative) or bright red (in life) in
T. bairdi], fewer ventrals (153 versus 163
in the single known female of T. bairdi),
and by having the nuchal collar that crosses the posterior supralabial (passing posterior to this scale in T. bairdi: Wilson,
1985); despite their relatively similar
lengths, we note that T. bairdi is much
more slender than is T. robusta.
Description of holotype.—Adult female,
426 mm in total length; tail length 31 mm
(7.2% of total length; incomplete); head
length 13.9 mm from front face of rostral
to posterior end of mandible; head width
12.3 mm at broadest point (at level of angle of mouth); head wider than neck; snout
rounded in dorsal view; eye small, snout
about 2.6 times as long as horizontal distance across eye; pupil circular; rostral
about 1.7 times broader than high; internasals about 2.6 times wider than long, laterally in contact with anterior and posterior nasals; prefrontals large, wider than
long, laterally in contact with posterior nasal and preocular; median prefrontal suture 0.4 times as long as frontal; frontal
about 1.4 times longer than wide; parietals
1.5 times longer than wide, length of median suture 1.4 times length of frontal; nasals completely divided; nostril located
mostly in posterior portion of anterior nasal; loreal absent; 1/1 preoculars; 2/2 postoculars; 1/1 anterior temporals; 1/1 posterior temporals, sinstral posterior temporal damaged; 7/7 supralabials; supralabials
6 and 7 not in contact with parietal, first
in contact with nasal, second in contact
with posterior nasal and preocular, third in
contact with preocular and entering the
orbit, fourth entering the orbit and in contact with postocular, fifth in contact with
postocular and anterior temporal, sixth in
contact with anterior temporal, and seventh the largest and in contact with anterior and posterior temporals; width of
mental about 1.7 times length, not in con-
December 2002]
HERPETOLOGICA
tact with anterior pair of chinshields; anterior chinshields well developed, about
twice as long as wide; posterior chinshields
not well differentiated from gulars, about
half of size of anterior chinshields; posterior chinshields separated from first ventral by three pairs of gulars; 6/6 infralabials, first pair in contact along ventral midline, first four pairs in contact with anterior
chinshields, fourth pair the largest; dorsals
smooth, in 15 longitudinal rows throughout length of body, no apical pits apparent;
dorsal scales in four rows at level of tenth
subcaudal; ventrals 153; cloacal scute divided; subcaudals 131 (tail incomplete), in
pairs; anal glands extending posteriorly for
length of three subcaudals.
In preservative (ethyl alcohol, after formalin), all dorsal scales on body brown
with tiny, scattered, dark brown flecks that
become more concentrated at periphery of
each scale; dorsal coloration extending
onto lateral edges of ventral scales anteriorly, becoming limited to posterolateral
edges of ventral scales along posterior half
of body; pale cream nuchal collar present,
complete, including tips of parietals and
extending posteriorly for two dorsal scale
rows, becoming wider ventrolaterally to include posterior portion of seventh supralabial, continuous with ventral coloration;
top of head uniform brown, lacking darker
brown flecking; large postocular pale
cream spot present, covering majority of
area of fifth supralabial and small portions
of adjacent scales; supralabial pale cream
spots present, covering first, second, and
part of third supralabials, and ventral portion of posterior nasal; small, pale cream
spots present on rostral, internasals, prefrontals, and small portions of anterior nasal; infralabials pale cream, with five dark
brown infralabial spots, becoming larger
posteriorly, fourth dextral infralabial with
medial dark brown spot; ventral coloration
immaculate cream.
Left maxilla bearing 15 teeth, becoming
larger posteriorly, the last three greatly enlarged, separated from anterior teeth by
short diastema.
Etymology.—The specific epithet is derived from the Latin robustus, meaning
495
stout, and is used in reference to the robust habitus of the species.
Distribution and ecology.—Tantilla robusta is known only from its type locality
of Octimaxal Norte, a small village at 930
m elevation near (approximately 20 km by
road) the municipality of Cuetzalan del
Progreso. This area is known locally as the
Sierra Norte and lies on the Atlantic versant of the Sierra Madre Oriental in northern Puebla. The original vegetation was
tropical semideciduous forest (Rzedowsky,
1978), but now has been extensively altered by coffee cultivation (Fig. 3). As a
result of its geographic position, the municipality usually is affected by frontal systems (‘‘nortes’’) and humid tradewinds
arising from the Atlantic versant; therefore
the rainfall in the municipality is heavy
(average around 4000 mm/yr) and cloud
cover is common in the afternoons. Other
species of amphibians and reptiles that we
found at the type locality include Eleutherodactylus rhodopis, E. verrucipes, an
undescribed species of Pseudoeuryea, Anolis naufragus, A. sericeus, Adelphicos
quadrivirgatus, Ficimia streckeri, Geophis
semidoliatus, Pliocercus bicolor, and Sibon
sartorii.
Remarks.—The color pattern of T. robusta is quite similar to that of T. schistosa
and the two species may be closely related.
Inasmuch as T. schistosa has not been
placed in any of the existing phenetic
groups of Tantilla (Wilson, 1999), we defer
from placing T. robusta in any of these
groups. The holotype of T. robusta was
originally reported by Canseco-Márquez
et al. (2000) as Tantilla morgani (recently
placed in the synonymy of T. rubra by Dixon et al., 2000), and the SVL and ventral
counts were inaccurately reported as 440
mm and 151, respectively. We found a
specimen of T. rubra (EBUAP 1598) at a
locality (Barranca Lapolate, 4 km NE Xocoyolo, 1000 m) near the type locality of
T. robusta; the color pattern of this specimen makes it clearly referable to T. rubra.
In this region, it appears that T. rubra is
found mainly at the higher elevations that
are dominated by cloud forest (although
much of this habitat has also been converted to coffee plantations). Our single
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HERPETOLOGICA
[Vol. 58, No. 4
FIG. 3.—Habitat at the type locality of Tantilla robusta, showing coffee cultivation and remnant overstory
trees in the area.
specimen of T. robusta was found in the
lower, warmer tropical forest.
Gutiérrez-Mayén. I. Fentanes, J. Salazar, L. Chong,
and L. López assisted with the field work.
RESUMEN
Se describe una nueva especie de Tantilla de la Sierra Norte de Puebla, México,
región perteneciente a la Sierra Madre
Oriental. Esta especie parece estar más
cercanamente relacionada a Tantilla schistosa en patrón de coloración, pero se diferencia por ser de talla más grande y diferencias en escutelación. Difiere de todas
las especies mexicanas del género Tantilla
por tener el dorso y la cabeza uniformemente café oscuro y el vientre crema claro.
LITERATURE CITED
Acknowledgments.—We thank the curators and
collections managers at AMNH, LACM, MVZ, and
MZFC for loans sent out on short notice. C. A. Sheil
provided copies of important literature, and J. A.
Campbell shared his knowledge of Tantilla with us.
This manuscript benefited greatly from comments by
J. A. Campbell and L. D. Wilson. Permits for conducting research in the Municipality of Cuetzalan del
Progreso were granted by Secretarı́a del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT). Support
for field work was provided by a grant from Comisión
Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO, number FB444/L283/97) to G.
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Accepted: 1 March 2002
Associate Editor: Stephen Tilley
APPENDIX I
Specimens Examined
Tantilla schistosa: COSTA RICA: Copal, Provincia
de Puntarenas, Canton de Coto Brus (MZFC 13611).
MEXICO: VERACRUZ: Barranca de San Miguel, 4
km E Cuautlapan (MVZ 106427); Cerro Chicahuaxtla, Cuautlapan, approximately 1250 m (MVZ 109490,
146973); 9 mi SE Alvarado (LACM 51799). OAXACA: Sierra de Juárez, La Esperanza (MZFC 5083).
Tantilla rubra: MEXICO: PUEBLA: Necaxa
(UMMZ 85968, holotype of T. morgani); Rı́o Necaxa
(AMNH 76428); Barranca Lapolate, 4 km NE Xocoyolo, 1000 m (EBUAP 1598).