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Argyrophis diardii (SCHLEGEL, 1839)

IUCN Red List - Argyrophis diardii - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaTyphlopidae (Asiatyphlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Diard’s blindsnake
G: Diards Blindschlange
Chinese: 大盲蛇 
SynonymTyphlops Diardii SCHLEGEL 1839: 39
Typhlops Diardii — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1844: 300
Argyrophis horsfieldii GRAY 1845: 137
Typhlops striolatus PETERS 1861
Typhlops diardii — GÜNTHER 1864: 174
Typhlops barmanus STOLICZKA 1872: 144
Typhlops diardi — BOULENGER 1893: 22
Typhlops tephrosoma WALL 1908: 314
Typhlops cinereus WALL 1909: 609 (preocc. by Typhlops cinereus GUERIN 1830)
Typhlops labialis WAITE 1918: 30 (fide MCDOWELL 1974)
Typhlops diardi — SMITH 1943
Typhlops diardii — COX et al. 1998: 13
Typhlops diardi platyventris KHAN 1998
Typhlops diardii — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 99
Typhlops diardi platyventris — KHAN 2003
Typhlops diardii — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Typhlops diardii — COX et al. 2012: 19
Asiatyphlops diardii — HEDGES et al. 2014
Argyrophis diardii — PYRON & WALLACH 2014
Typhlops diardii — CHAN-ARD et al. 2015: 149
Typhlops diardii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 761 
DistributionIndia (Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Assam; Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland), Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Myanmar (= Burma), Vietnam, Indochina, Cambodia (NW Cardamom Mountains), Thailand, Laos (Champasak, Houaphan and Xiangkhoang, Bolikhamxai),
S China (Hainan, Yunnan)
W Malaysia,
Indonesia (Nias, Weh, Sumatra, Banka)

platyventris: Pakistan (KHAN 2004)

Type locality: “Khasi Hills, Assam” (Argyrophis horsfieldii GRAY 1845)
Type locality: “banks of Ganges River, Calcutta” (Typhlops striolatus PETERS 1861)
Type locality: “near Moulmein, Myanmar (= Burma)” (Typhlops barmanus STOLICZKA (1872)
Type locality: “Shillong, Khasi Hills, Assam, India” (Typhlops tephrosoma WALL (1908)
Type locality: “Upper Assam” (Typhlops cinereus WALL (1909)  
Reproductionovoviviparous or oviparous (Tinkle & Gibbons 1977) 
TypesHolotype: MNHN-RA 1065
Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.11.50 [horsfieldii]
Syntypes: BMNH 1946.1.11.61. fide HAHN 1980; ZMB 3943 fide BAUER 1995 [Typhlops striolatus PETERS 1861]
Holotype: Indian Museum, Calcutta [barmanus]]
Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.11.65. [tephrosoma]
Holotype: CAS 170527 (not 170526 as given), paratypes: MSK 0930.94; 0933.94; 060.96; 0901.93; 0932.94, "Goi Madan, District Kotli, Azad Kashmir, 33° 30'N and 74° 00'E elevation 1315 mm (sic); paratypes: ZMGC [platyventris]
Holotype: WAM R630 [labialis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (playventris): A stout-bodied Typhlops, with distinctly flat ventrum; 22-25 scales round the midbody; head flat, wider than body, tail at vent wider than long; eyes large with a distinct pupil; nasal cleft incomplete; a large subnarial glandular pit, nasal cleft in contact with second supralabial; head squamous glands confined to sutures, descend in parallel diagnal rows onto the supralabials; the posterior nasal overlaps first and second supralabials, third supralabial overlapped by preocular and overlaps ocular; ocular overlaps fourth supralabial; microtubercles are scattered on the surface of all head scales; dorsum light brown, ventrum dirty white; tail with sharp ventrad bent, tip round, with a strong cuspidate spine. 
CommentSynonymy: following HAHN 1980. Hahn 1980 listed Typhlops labialis WAITE 1918 as synonym of Typhlops (diardi) muelleri. Wallach et al. 2014 listed platyventris as synonym of diardii. Only Khan himself seems to have continued recognizing platyventris, so we follow Wallach et al. 2014 for the time being.

The species name was spelt with a single 'i' in the original description of Typhlops diardi platyventris KHAN 1998.

Distribution: May have been erroneously reported from Borneo, but not listed by MALKMUS et al. (2002) for Borneo. Not present there fide I. Das (pers. comm. 17 March 2013). Possibly in Bhutan (Lenz 2012). The type locality of Typhlops labialis WAITE 1918 (“Western Australia”) is probably in error as T. diardii is not known from Australia. McDowell (1974: 9) cites G. Storr, pers. comm. saying that “this specimen was registered by L. Glauert” as having “no data". Reports from Papua New Guinea are based on three specimens obtained in 1870 by an unknown collector from the Vogelkop Peninsula of northwestern New Guinea(McDowell 1974). 
EtymologyNamed after Pierre-Medard Diard (1794-1863), a French explorer who collected in Southeast Asia (1827-1848). He also founded the Buitenzorg Botanical Gardens,Java. 
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