URUAPAN CENTIPEDE SNAKE
Tantilla cascadae – Wilson & Meyer 1981
IDENTIFICATION:
DISTRIBUTION:
Currently, this species is known only from the type locality on the slopes of the Sierra de los Tarascos, near Uruapán, Michoacán, Mexico elevation 1430 m. It probably occurs over a wider area in the Pacific drainages of the Cordillera Volcanica.
HABITAT:
The habitat around Cascada Tzaráracua is described as being covered by oak forest with a few scattered pine trees (Duellman, 1961).
NATURAL HISTORY:
Almost nothing is known of this species’ natural history. Like other species in the Tantilla calamarina species group this secretive snake lays eggs and feeds on invertebrates.
TAXONOMY:
This snake belongs to the Tantilla calamarina species group as defined by Wilson and Meyer (1981). It is most closely allied to T. calamarina, T. coronadoi and T. deppei.
TYPE:
Described as Tantilla cascadae by Wilson and Meyer (1981). Holotype: AMNH 107389. Type locality: Tzaráracua Falls (Cascada la Tzaráracua), south (listed as 10.5 km south by W. E. Duellman, 1961) of Uruapán, Michoacán, Mexico (elevation 1430 m). An adult female collected in June 1939 by D. F. Brand.
PERSONAL NOTES:
I have no experience with this species, having never been within its range.
CONSERVATION STATUS:
This species is only recorded from the locality from which it was first discovered; however, this lies within a National Park and is largely protected. It is likely this snake occurs elsewhere in the state of Michoacán and is probably not in danger of extinction.
REFERENCES:
Duellman, W. E. 1961. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michoacán, Mexico. University of Kansas Publications of the Museum of Natural History, 15:1-148.
Wilson, L. D. and Meyer, J. R. 1981. Systematics of the Calamarina Group of the Colubrid Snake Genus Tantilla. Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology, 42:1-25.