Tachymenis

Tachymenis is a genus of venomous snakes belonging to the family Colubridae. Species in the genus Tachymenis are commonly known as slender snakes or short-tailed snakes and are primarily found in southern South America. Tachymenis are rear-fanged (opisthoglyphous) and are capable of producing a medically significant bite, with at least one species, T. peruviana, responsible for human fatalities.[1]

Tachymenis
Tachymenis peruviana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Dipsadinae
Genus: Tachymenis
Wiegmann, 1835
Species

See text.

Species

The following species are recognized by ITIS[2] and Reptile Database.[3]

  • Tachymenis affinis Boulenger, 1896
  • Tachymenis attenuata Walker, 1945
  • Tachymenis chilensis (Schlegel, 1837)
  • Tachymenis elongata Despax, 1910
  • Tachymenis peruviana Wiegmann, 1835
  • Tachymenis tarmensis Walker, 1945

Other sources may recognize as many as 17 distinct species:[4][5]

  • Tachymenis affinis (Boulenger's slender snake)
  • Tachymenis attenuata (Walker's slender snake)
  • Tachymenis bitorquata
  • Tachymenis boulengerii
  • Tachymenis chilensis (Chilean slender snake, culebra de cola corta)
  • Tachymenis decipiens
  • Tachymenis dromiciformis
  • Tachymenis elongata (Depax's slender snake)
  • Tachymenis hypoconia
  • Tachymenis infralineatus
  • Tachymenis melanocephala
  • Tachymenis nototaenia
  • Tachymenis peruviana (Peru slender snake, cola corta del Perú)
  • Tachymenis surinamensis
  • Tachymenis taeniata
  • Tachymenis tarmensis (slender snake)

References
  1. Mackessy, Stephen P. (June 2002). "Biochemistry and pharmacology of colubrid snake venoms". Journal of Toxicology: Toxin Reviews. 21 (1–2): 43–83. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.596.5081. doi:10.1081/TXR-120004741. Most [colubrids] may not produce a venom capable of causing serious damage to humans, but at least five species (Dispholidus typus, Thelotornis capensis, Rhabdophis tigrinus, Philodryas olfersii and Tachymenis peruviana) have caused human fatalities.
  2. "Tachymenis ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  3. "Tachymenis ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  4. Tachymenis. Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  5. Tachymenis (Genus). ZipcodeZoo.com, 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2017.

Further reading
  • Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus Tachymenis, pp. 117–118; T. peruviana, p. 118; T. affinis, new species, p. 119 + Plate VII, figure 1 [three views]).
  • Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Tachymenis, pp. 75, 76, 111).
  • Wiegmann AFA (1835). "Beiträge zur Zoologie, gesammelt auf einer Reise um die Erde, von Dr. F.J.F. Meyen, siebente Abhandlung. Amphibien ". Nova Acta Physico-Medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae 17: 185-268. (Tachymenis, new genus, pp. 251–252; T. peruviana, new species, pp. 252–253 + Plate XX, figure 1). (in German and Latin).
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