Tachymenis is a genus of venomous snakes belonging to the subfamily Dipsadinae of 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, Tachymenis peruviana, responsible for human fatalities.
Species The following species are recognized by the Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. Tachymenis ocellata (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) – ocellated pampas snake Tachymenis peruviana Wiegmann, 1835 – Peru slender snake Tachymenis trigonatus (Leybold, 1873) – false tomodon snake
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in genus other than Tachymenis.
References
Further reading
Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), Amblycephalidæ, and Viperidæ. 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). Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. . (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).