We describe a new species of Tantilla (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the highlands ("campos rupestres") of the Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. The new species belongs in the T. melanocephala group and is characterized by its uniform reddish orange dorsum with no dark middorsal stripe, a broad pale nuchal band medially divided, and a dark head cap without posterior lateral extensions. Color photographs of adult individuals and illustration of hemipenes of both the new species and T. melanocephala from the Cerrado formation south of the Amazon are provided and comparisons with congeners are made.591119126Cope, E.D., Synopsis of the Batrachia, and Reptilia obtained by H. H. Smith, in the province of Mato Grosso, Brazil (1887) Proceedings of the American Philosofical Society, 24, pp. 44-60Dixon, J.R., Vaughan, R.K., Wilson, L.D., The taxonomy of Tantilla rubra and allied taxa (Serpentes: Colubridae) (2000) Southwestern Naturalist, 45, pp. 141-153Eterovick, P.C., Sazima, I., Structure of an anuran community in a montane meadow in southeastern Brazil: Effect of seasonality, habitat, and predation (2000) Amphibia-Reptilia, 21, pp. 439-469Feio, R.N., Bokermann, W.C.A., Sazima, I., Anfíbios anuros da Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais (2002) Serra do Cipó: Ecologia e Evolução, , G. W. Fernandes (Ed.). Atheneu, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, In pressFerrarezzi, H., Nota sobre o gênero Phalotris com revisão do grupo nasutus e descrição de três novas especies (Serpentes, Colubridae, Xenodontinae) (1993) Memórias do Instituto Butantan, 55, pp. 21-38Giulietti, A.M., Menezes, N.M., Pirani, J.R., Meguro, M., Wanderley, M.G.L., Flora da Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais: Caracterização e lista de espécies (1987) Boletim de Botânica, Universidade de São Paulo, 9, pp. 1-151Joly, A.B., (1970) Conheça a Vegetação Brasileira, , Polígono, São Paulo, São Paulo, BrasilKornerup, A., Wanscher, J.H., (1961) Taschenlexikon der Farben, , Musterschmidt Verlag, Zürich, DeutschlandLema, T.D., Relato de um envenenamento por uma cobra não venenosa (1978) Natureza em Revista, 4, pp. 62-63Leviton, A.E., Gibbs R.H., Jr., Heal, E., Dawson, C.E., Standards in herpetology and ichthyology. Part I. Standard symbolic codes for institutional collections in herpetology and ichthyology (1985) Copeia, 1985, pp. 802-832Manzani, P.R., Abe, A.S., Sobre dois novos métodos de preparo do hemipênis de serpentes (1988) Memórias do Instituto Butantan, 50, pp. 15-20Marques, O.A.V., Puorto, G., Feeding, reproduction and growth in the crowned snake Tantilla melanocephala (Colubridae), from southeastern Brazil (1998) Amphibia-Reptilia, 19, pp. 311-318Martins, M., Oliveira, M.E., Natural history of snakes in forests of the Manaus region, Central Amazonia, Brazil (1998) Herpetological Natural History, 6, pp. 78-150Nimer, E., Climatologia da região sudeste do Brasil (1972) Revista Brasileira de Geografia, 34, pp. 3-48Peters, J.A., (1964) Dictionary of Herpetology, , Hafner Publishing Company, New York, New York, U.S.ASavage, J.M., Slowinsky, J.B., The colouration of the venomous coral snakes (family Elapidae) and their mimics (families Aniliidae and Colubridae) (1992) Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 45, pp. 235-254Sazima, I., Abe, A.S., Habits of five Brazilian snakes with coral-snake pattern, including a summary of defensive tactics (1991) Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 26, pp. 159-164Sazima, I., Manzani, P.R., As cobras que vivem numa reserva florestal urbana (1995) Ecologia e Preservação de uma Floresta Tropical Urbana, Reserva de Santa Genebra, pp. 78-82. , P. C. Morellato and H. F. Leitão Filho (Eds.). Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, BrasilSick, H., (1997) Ornitologia Brasileira, , Editora Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro, BrasilSmith, H.M., Flores-Villela, O., Chiszar, D., The generic allocation of Tantilla canula (Reptilia: Serpentes) (1993) Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society, 29, pp. 126-129Vanzolini, P.E., A new Gymnodactylus from Minas Gerais, Brasil, with remarks on the genus, on the area and on montane endemisms in Brazil (1982) Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 34, pp. 403-413Wilson, L.D., A review of the colubrid snakes of the genus Tantilla of Central America (1982) Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology, 52, pp. 1-77A new species of Tantilla of the taeniata group from Chiapas, Mexico (1983) Journal of Herpetology, 17, pp. 54-59A resumé of the colubrid snakes of the genus Tantilla of South America (1987) Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology, 68, pp. 1-35Tantilla miyatai Wilson and Knight (1990) Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles, 477, p. 1Checklist and key to the species of the genus Tantilla (Serpentes: Colubridae), with some commentary on distribution (1999) Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service, 122, pp. 1-34Wilson, L.D., Mena, C.E., Systematics of the melanocephala group of the colubrid snake genus Tantilla (1980) San Diego Society of Natural History, Memoir, 11, pp. 1-58Wilson, L.D., Vaughan, K.R., Dixon, J.R., Tantilla rubra Cope La Rojilla (red blackheaded snake) (2000) Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles, 720, pp. 1-3Wüster, W., Golay, P., Warrell, D.A., Synopsis of recent developments in venomous snake systematics, No 2 (1998) Toxicon, 36, pp. 299-307