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 | |
|---|---|
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| Tachymenis peruviana | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Subfamily: | Dipsadinae |
| Genus: | Tachymenis Wiegmann, 1835 |
| Species | |
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See text. | |
Species
editThe following species are recognized by the Reptile Database.[2]
- Tachymenis ocellata Dumeril, Bibron, & Dumeril, 1854 - ocellated pampas snake
- Tachymenis peruviana Wiegmann, 1835 - Peru slender snake
- Tachymenis trigonatus (Leybold, 1873) - false tomodon snake
References
edit- ^ 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. S2CID 86568032.
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.
- ^ "Tachymenis ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
edit
Wikispecies has information related to Tachymenis.
- 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).