Tantilla gottei

description

Description of holotype. — A subadult female; TOL 367 mm; SVL 270 mm; TAL 97 mm (26.4 % of TOL); HL 10.8 mm; HW 5.6 mm (between level of angle of mouth and eye); head barely distinct from neck; snout broadly rounded in dorsal view; eye length 1.4 mm; snout length 3.3 mm, about 2.4 times longer than eye; pupil circular; rostral about 1.4 times wider than high (2.2 X 1.6 mm); internasal length about 0.7 times of width (1.1 X 1.6 mm); prefrontal about 1.7 times larger than internasal (1.9 X 1.1 mm), as wide as long (both dimensions 1.9 mm); median prefrontal suture 1.6 mm, about 0.5 times as long as frontal (1.6 X 3.5 mm); frontal with slight anterior extension, V-shaped posteriorly, about 1.3 times longer than wide (3.5 X 2.7 mm), about 1.1 times longer than distance from its anterior edge to tip of snout (3.1 mm); parietal about 1.5 times longer than wide (4.4 X 3.0 mm), median suture length 2.8 mm, about 0.8 times length of frontal; parietals contacting six nuchal scales; supraocular about 1.9 times longer than wide (2.6 X 1.4 mm), bordering orbit, contacting parietal, upper postocular, preocular, and prefrontal. Nasal divided; anterior nasal contacting rostral, internasal, and sup

A Review of the Tantilla taeniata Species Group (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae: Colubrinae) in Honduras, with the Description of Three New Species

diagnosis

Diagnosis. — Tantilla gottei is defined by the following combination of characters: (1) middorsal stripe pale cream (in preservative), extending length of body and most of tail, on vertebral row and adjacent third of paravertebral rows; (2) pale cream (in preservative) lateral stripe occupying adjacent third of scale row 3 and lower three-quarters of scale row 4; (3) ventrolateral area white as is that of lateral stripe (in preservative); (4) lower two-thirds of scale row 1 colored similarly to that of ventrals; (5) lateral edges of ventrals white, except some dark spots present (in preservative); (6) ventral and subcaudal surfaces yellow (in life) and white (in preservative); (7) female with 147 ventrals, male ventrals 142 – 158, subcaudals 70 in female, 62 – 67 in males; (8) female tail length 26 % of total length, 24 – 26 % in males. Tantilla gottei most closely resembles T. taeniata in having low numbers of ventral scales, but differs in having yellow ventral surfaces in life, and by having a pale brown internasal crossbar that is confluent with the pale lateral spot anterior to the eye, (vs. ventral surfaces pale purplish pink grading to darker salmon color on posterior two-th

A Review of the Tantilla taeniata Species Group (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae: Colubrinae) in Honduras, with the Description of Three New Species

distribution

Distribution and habitat. — Almost nothing is known about the habitats of Tantilla gottei, except the low montane habitats where this species was collected are in pine forest in the south-central portion of Honduras (Premontane Moist Forest of Holdridge 1967), with one exception. That exception is a single locality in Lowland Dry Forest (Holdridge 1967). The holotype was collected alive by a worker on the grounds of the El Picacho Zoo during December. One paratype (MCZ R 49886) was collected during May. The known elevational range is 500 – 1280 m. The known geographical distribution of Tantilla gottei is from the upper Río Choluteca drainage, in the vicinity of the capital city of Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán, east- and southeast-ward to the south-central portion of the department of El Paraíso (Fig. 5) along the middle portion of the Río Choluteca. Anthropogenic alteration of forest habitats in recent times has further isolated these localities. In addition, most of those surviving pine forests are burned on an annual basis. Those repeated burnings serve to have a permanent drying effect on those burned areas. Therefore, T. gottei should be considered an endangered species.

A Review of the Tantilla taeniata Species Group (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae: Colubrinae) in Honduras, with the Description of Three New Species

etymology

Etymology. — The name gottei is a patronymic noun honoring Steve W. Gotte, a long-time friend of the first author, who also made several field trips with JRM to Honduras. Steve has also been a long-term employee of the US Department of Interior at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, and most recently in Suitland, Maryland.

A Review of the Tantilla taeniata Species Group (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae: Colubrinae) in Honduras, with the Description of Three New Species