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Systematic Status of the Colubrid Snake,
Leptodeira discolor Günther

BY

WILLIAM E. DUELLMAN

At the time of completing my study of the genus Leptodeira(1958) I had seen no specimens of Leptodeira discolor, a speciesdescribed by Günther in 1860 and subsequently referred to thegenus Hypsiglena by Cope (1887), Boulenger (1894), and Mocquard(1908), and to the genus Pseudoleptodeira by Taylor (1938).Günther's description was based on two syntypes (British Museumof Natural History numbers 1946.1.23.67 and 68) collected inOaxaca, México, by Auguste Sallé. Information concerning thescutellation and coloration of the syntypes was provided by J. C.Battersby; in my revisionary study (op. cit.) this information wasincluded in a short discussion of the species, which was referred toincerta sedis until specimens could be examined and the relationshipsof the species determined.

Through the courtesy of John M. Legler of the Museum of NaturalHistory, University of Kansas, I have been able to study aspecimen of Leptodeira discolor obtained six miles southeast ofTamazulápam, Oaxaca, México, by J. R. Alcorn on June 22, 1955.Superficial examination of the external characters of this snakeshows a striking resemblance to Leptodeira. The specimen has avertical pupil, divided anal, 21 scale rows, and two apical pits. Theenlarged posterior maxillary teeth are without a trace of a groove.Examination of the hemipenis revealed that the organ was bifurcateand had a forked sulcus; these penial characteristics are diagnosticof the subfamily Xenodontinae and not the subfamily Colubrinaethat includes the genera Hypsiglena and Leptodeira.

Examination of all available xenodontine genera indicates thatthis snake belongs to a heretofore unnamed genus. In recognitionof the mental torment customarily suffered by workers attemptingto ascertain the relationships of the many genera of colubrid snakes,I propose the generic name

Tantalophis, new genus