Taeniophallus occipitalis (Jan, 1963)

Guedes, Thaís B., Nogueira, Cristiano & Marques, Otavio A. V., 2014, Diversity, natural history, and geographic distribution of snakes in the Caatinga, Northeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 3863 (1), pp. 1-93 : 51

Taeniophallus occipitalis (Jan, 1963)

(Figs. 19.3 and 31.3)

It is distributed in the states of Piauí, Ceará, Pernambuco, Sergipe, and Bahia. At the central portion of the Caatinga it inhabits high altitude areas up to 1,200 m elevation. On contact areas this snake inhabits lower areas below 500 m. It also occurs in the Cerrado, Pampas, and Pantanal ( Marques et al. 2005; Bérnils et al. 2008; Nogueira et al. 2010, 2011). In highlands of the Ceará State was recorded in arboreal caatinga ( Loebman & Haddad 2010) and in the Diamantina Plateau in Bahia State (Juncá 2005), and in the Serra de Itabaiana National Park in Sergipe State it was recorded in relictual moist forests. In Piauí State it was recorded only in low altitudes in areas where cerrado phytophysiognomies are predominant ( Rocha & Prudente 2010). It is typical of open areas along its wide range in the Cerrado region ( Recoder & Nogueira 2007; Valdujo et al. 2009; Recoder et al. 2011; Nogueira et al. 2011). It has cryptozoic and terrestrial habits, is diurnal and feeds on frogs and lizards ( Marques et al. 2001).