A Review of the Tantilla taeniata Species Group (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae: Colubrinae) in Honduras, with the Description of Three New Species

We describe three new species of centipede-eating snakes in the Tantilla taeniata species group. These new species come from the vicinities of three river drainage valleys in Honduras. One of the new species has a narrow vertebral stripe and comes from foothills of Sierra de Botaderos and Sierra de Agalta, on both sides of the lower drainage of the Río Sico Tinto in the Agalta Valley. A second species, with a relatively high number of ventral scales, inhabits lowlands and foothills near the Río Ulúa drainage valley, from Lago de Yojoa, Cortés, to northwestern Atlántida. The third new species, with a relatively low number of ventral scales, inhabits the upper and middle drainage system in the vicinity of the Río Choluteca, from near Danlí, El Paraíso, to Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán. All three species can easily be distinguished morphologically from other members of the genus, and in particular from other members of the T. taeniata group.