The colubrid snake Tantilla equatoriana was described from 2 male specimens on the basis of several characters of color pattern and relatively high number of subcaudals. We examined the types and 3 additional specimens of T. equatoriana to assess whether the characters used to diagnose this taxon are unique or overlap with those of the highly variable, sympatric species T. melanocephala. Based on these data and a Principal Components Analysis of morphometric variation of T. equatoriana and T. melanocephala, we treat T. equatoriana as a junior synonym of T. melanocephala.
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The Southwestern Naturalist
Vol. 49 • No. 4
December 2004
Vol. 49 • No. 4
December 2004