Introduction 



The last systematic summary of the colubrid genus Tantilla was provided by Wilson (1982a). 

 In that account, forty-six species were listed. Since that paper, many significant changes have 

 occurred in the systematics of this speciose genus, including a generic reallocation, an elevation 

 of a subspecies to species status, and several species synonymizations, species resurrections, 

 and species descriptions. Given the extensive nature of these changes, I think it is necessary to 

 update information on the content of the genus and to provide a new key for the identification 

 of the members of the genus, as currently recognized. It is the purpose of this paper to 

 accomplish these ends. 



One generic reallocation has taken place since Wilson's (1982a) paper. One of the taxa he 

 listed, Tantilla canula Cope, "1875" (1876), most extensively treated by Wilson (1982b), was 

 transferred to the genus Tantillita by Smith et al. (1993). The content of the latter genus, thus, 

 rose to three species (including brevissima and lintoni). 



Tantilla cucullata Minton, 1956, was elevated from subspecific status within Tantilla rubra 

 Cope "1875" (1876) to full species status by Dixon et al. (In press); these authors also 

 synonymized Tantilla diabola FouquettQ and Potter, 1961, with T cucullata. 



Five species synonymizations also have occurred, as indicated below: 



Tantilla annulataBoeitgQT, 1892 = Tantilla sjipracincta (Peters), 1863 (Wilson, 1987) 

 Tantilla cuesta Wilson, 1982b = Tantilla jam (Gunther), 1895 (Campbell, 1998) 

 Tantilla excubitor Wilson, 1982b = Tantillita brevissima Taylor, "1936" (1937) (Wilson, 



1988a) 

 Tantilla miniata Cope, 1863 (as Tantilla mmiator) = Tantilla rubra Cope, "1875" (1876) 



(Dixon et al.. In press) 

 Tantilla morgani Hartweg, 1944 = Tantilla rubra Cope, "1875" (1876) (Dixon et al.. In 



press) 



Three species-level taxa (all members of the taeniata group) not listed by Wilson (1982a) have 

 been resurrected subsequently, as noted below: 



Tantilla trilineata (Peters), 1880, from indeterminate status (Wilson and Meyer, 1971) to 



that of valid species (Savitsky and Smith, 1971; as noted by Campbell, 1998) 

 Tantilla triseriata Smith and Smith, 1951, from synonymy o^ Tantilla taeniata (Bocourt), 



1883 (Smith etal., 1998) 

 Tantilla tritaeniata Smith and Williams, 1966, from synonymy of Tantilla taeniata 

 (Bocourt), 1883 (Wilson and McCranie, In press) 



