Tantilla planiceps: taxon details and analytics
- Domain
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Tantilla
- Species
- Tantilla planiceps
- Scientific Name
- Tantilla planiceps
Summary description from Wikipedia:
Western black-headed snake
The western black-headed snake (Tantilla planiceps), also known as the California black-headed snake, is a snake species endemic to the Californias (the U.S. State of California and the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico), as north as the San Francisco Bay and as far east as western Utah, and Texas. It lives in mostly moist pockets in mostly arid or semiarid environments and spends much of its life underground. It has a flattened head as most crevice-dwellers and is seven to fifteen inches in size. It is brown, slender, olive-gray, with a black head bordered by a white collar. Its habitat is often in woodland, desert areas, grassland and along arroyos in areas that are wet in a usually dry region.
The western black-headed snake is a member of a larger natural group of small New World terrestrial colubrids, where some of the related species include sand snake (Chilomeniscus), shovel-nosed snake (Chionactis), and the ground snake (Sonora). The western black-headed snake is the sister species of Tantilla yaquia of southern Arizona. They are also related to Tantilla gracilis, Tantilla atriceps, Tantilla hobartsmithi and Tantilla nigriceps, all species endemic to the southwestern United States. It is visually similar to the southwestern black-headed snake (T. hobartsmithi). Although they usually appear singly or in pairs, as many as six individual snakes have been observed together. They prey on arthropods, particularly centipedes and beetle larvae, as well as spiders, insects, slugs, and earthworms. They are highly secretive and rarely seen, spending much time under objects, especially during daytime.
...Tantilla planiceps in languages:
- English
- Western Black-headed Snake
- English
- Western Blackhead Snake
- English
- California Black-headed Snake
- German
- Westliche Schwarzkopfschlange
Images from inaturalist.org observations:
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Parent Taxon
Sibling Taxa
- Tantilla albiceps
- Tantilla alticola
- Tantilla andinista
- Tantilla armillata
- Tantilla atriceps
- Tantilla bairdi
- Tantilla berguidoi
- Tantilla bocourti
- Tantilla boipiranga
- Tantilla brevicauda
- Tantilla briggsi
- Tantilla calamarina
- Tantilla capistrata
- Tantilla carolina
- Tantilla cascadae
- Tantilla ceboruca
- Tantilla coronadoi
- Tantilla coronata
- Tantilla cucullata
- Tantilla cuniculator
- Tantilla deppei
- Tantilla excelsa
- Tantilla flavilineata
- Tantilla gottei
- Tantilla gracilis
- Tantilla hendersoni
- Tantilla hobartsmithi
- Tantilla impensa
- Tantilla insulamontana
- Tantilla jani
- Tantilla johnsoni
- Tantilla lempira
- Tantilla lydia
- Tantilla melanocephala
- Tantilla miyatai
- Tantilla moesta
- Tantilla nigra
- Tantilla nigriceps
- Tantilla oaxacae
- Tantilla olympia
- Tantilla oolitica
- Tantilla petersi
- Tantilla planiceps
- Tantilla psittaca
- Tantilla relicta
- Tantilla reticulata
- Tantilla robusta
- Tantilla rubra
- Tantilla ruficeps
- Tantilla schistosa
- Tantilla semicincta
- Tantilla sertula
- Tantilla shawi
- Tantilla slavensi
- Tantilla stenigrammi
- Tantilla striata
- Tantilla supracincta
- Tantilla taeniata
- Tantilla tayrae
- Tantilla tecta
- Tantilla tjiasmantoi
- Tantilla trilineata
- Tantilla triseriata
- Tantilla tritaeniata
- Tantilla vermiformis
- Tantilla vulcani
- Tantilla wilcoxi
- Tantilla yaquia





















































































































































