You are here » home advanced search Anilios fossor

Anilios fossor SHEA, 2015

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Anilios fossor?

Add your own observation of
Anilios fossor »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaTyphlopidae (Asiatyphlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymAnilios fossor SHEA 2015 
DistributionAustralia (S Northern Territory)

Type locality: Glen Annie, Ruby Gap Nature Park, Northern Territory, Australia, 23°28'S 134°58'E, elevation ca. 500 m.  
Reproductionoviparous (manual imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesHolotype: NTM R14324 (field tag JCR30), collected 15.x.1989 by J.R. Cole. The coordinates of the type locality are given in the NTM database as 23°28'S 135°00'E. However, from the map provided by the Gibson et al. (1992), the coordinates of Glen Annie are closer to 23°28'S 134°58'E, at an altitude of ca 500 m (from Google Earth). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Anilios fossor is distinguished from all other described species in the genus (sensu Pyron & Wallach 2014) by the combination of 20 midbody scale rows, a rounded snout in lateral profile (lacking any rostroventral angulation), a nasal cleft contacting the second supralabial ventrally, but not extending to the dorsal surface of the head, and a large, round rostral scale. For more detailed comparisons with other species, see Shea 2015. 
CommentOnly known from the holotype. 
EtymologyNamed after the Latin fossor, a miner, in allusion to the fossorial habits of the genus and the type locality, where the numerous garnets in the bed of the Hale River, misidentified as rubies, sparked the Northern Territory's first mining rush (Gibson et al. 1992). The species epithet is a noun in apposition. 
References
  • Shea, G.M. 2015. A new species of Anilios (Scolecophidia: Typhlopidae) from Central Australia. Zootaxa 4033 (1): 103–116 - get paper here
  • Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator