NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Mexican Moccasin
Agkistrodon taylori Burger & Robertson, 1951
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Agkistrodon taylori is a species of venomous snake, a pitviper (Crotalinae) found only in northeastern Mexico. The standardized names are Taylor's cantil (English) and Metapil (Spanish), although it is sometimes called the ornate cantil as well as several other colloquial names. It was named in honor of American herpetologist Edward Harrison Taylor. It is a stout, medium sized snake, averaging 64–90 cm. in length. Taylor's cantils have prominent light and dark stripes on the head, with a pattern of black and gray-brown bands on the body, accented with white, yellow, and orange. They are sexually dimorphic, with males being significantly darker than females. Some older individuals, particularly males, may grow darker, nearly black with age. It is a viviparous species, with typical litters of 3 to 10 live young. Taylor's cantils are uncommon to rare snakes in the wild and listed as a threatened species in Mexico.
Wikipedia contributors, Agkistrodon taylori; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:57:19.049310+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Agkistrodon taylori Burger & Robertson, 1951
- Name authority
- Burger & Robertson, 1951
- Common name
- Mexican Moccasin
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Viperidae
- Genus
- Agkistrodon
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyViperidae
- subfamilyCrotalinae
- genusAgkistrodon
- speciesAgkistrodon taylori Burger & Robertson, 1951
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Agkistrodon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Southern CopperheadAgkistrodon contortrix (Linnaeus, 1766) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| CantilAgkistrodon bilineatus Günther, 1863 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Agkistrodon piscivorus (Lacépède, 1789) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Agkistrodon conanti Gloyd, 1969 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gloyd’s MoccasinAgkistrodon howardgloydi Conant, 1984 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mexican MoccasinAgkistrodon russeolus Gloyd, 1972 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Agkistrodon&species=taylori Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:65RMM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.