Cynisca kraussi (PETERS, 1878)

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Higher Taxa	Amphisbaenidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Ghana Worm Lizard
Synonym	Amphisbaena kraussi PETERS 1878: 192 Cynisca kraussi — GANS 1967 Cynisca kraussi — GANS 1987: 43 Cynisca kraussi — BAUER et al. 1995: 67 Cynisca kraussi — GANS 2005: 28 Cynisca kausi — MEASEY & TOLLEY 2013: 105 (in error)
Distribution	SE Ghana (NW Ashanti) Type locality: “Westafrika”.
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Syntypes: ZMB 9375, ZMUC R4470; two paralectotypes: SMNS 1346.a.-b.
Diagnosis	DIAGNOSIS: Nasal, preocular, and prefrontal discrete. Ocular discrete (pentagonal, diagonally placed). A small, median azygous shield in 9 of the 39 specimens. Two preocular and one postocular supralabials. Frontals small, triangular. Occipital relatively large, clearly derived from second body annulus. Very large postocular supralabial in narrow contact with postocular (-parietal) that has broad contact with the midline, with the occipital, and with a very large first postsupralabial that appears to have fused with the temporal. Second postsupralabial small, forming part of second body annulus (that more dorsally contributes the occipitals). Snout generally pointed, preocular region swollen. 3 supralabials and 2 infralabials. Mental flanked by enormous first infralabials; its posterior tip separated into a postmental. One row of 2-4 small postgenials anterior to the enlarged malars and a second row of 4 to 7 between them. 208-226 body annuli; 16-19 caudal annuli. Most specimens have a hump in the tail leading to a spatulate depressed distal tip covered dorsally by a rosette of segments (and which is underlain by a faint terminal ossification). Midbody segments, 14-20 dorsal, 12-16 ventral. Median ventral segments enlarged, paired. 8 large round precloacal pores. Autotomy site at the 6th to 7th caudal annulus. (Gans 1987: 43)
Comment
Etymology	Named after Dr. Christian Ferdinand Friedrich von Krauss (1812-1890), German collector, traveler, botanist andpharmacist who studied in Tübingen and Heidelberg. After traveling to South Africa he joined Staatliche Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart, becoming its Director (1856).
References	Bauer, A.M.; Günther,R. & Klipfel,M. 1995. The herpetological contributions of Wilhelm C.H. Peters (1815-1883). SSAR Facsimile Reprints in Herpetology, 714 pp. Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here Gans C 1987. Studies on amphisbaenians (Reptilia). 7. The small round-headed species (Cynisca) from western Africa. American Museum Novitates (2896): 1-84 - get paper here Gans, C. 2005. CHECKLIST AND BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE AMPHISBAENIA OF THE WORLD. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 289: 1-130 - get paper here Loveridge, A. 1948. The Lizard Amphisbaena kraussi Rediscovered in the Gold CoastThe Lizard Amphisbaena kraussi Rediscovered in the Gold Coast. Copeia 1948 (3): 213-214 - get paper here Measey, John & Krystal A. Tolley 2013. A molecular phylogeny for sub-Saharan amphisbaenians. African Journal of Herpetology 62 (2): 100-108 - get paper here Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1878. Über zwei Scincoiden aus Australien und eine neue Amphisbaena von Westafrika. Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin. 1878 (November): 191-192 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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