Monopeltis sphenorhynchus (PETERS, 1879)
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Monopeltis sphenorhynchus
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| Higher Taxa | Amphisbaenidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Slender Spade-snouted Worm Lizard |
| Synonym | Lepidosternon sphenorhynchum GRAY 1865 (nomen nudum) Monopeltis sphenorhynchus PETERS 1879: 275 Monopeltis habenichti FITZSIMONS 1937 Monopeltis capensis gazei FITZSIMONS 1937 Monopeltis capensis gazei — FITZSIMONS 1943: 393 Monopeltis sphenorhynchus — BAUER et al. 1995: 68 Monopeltis sphenorhynchus — GANS 2005: 37 Monopeltis sphenorhynchus — BATES et al. 2014: 155 |
| Distribution | S Mozambique, Republic of South Africa (Transvaal, Natal, Cape Province, Bechuanaland), SE Botswana, S Mozambique Type locality: restricted to ‘‘Inhambane, Mozambique”(Loveridge, 1941: 427). |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Syntypes: ZMB 1400, 9423, (9424) fide GANS 1967], 9000;Lectotype: ZMB 1400, designated by GANS 2005. Paralectotype: ZMB 9423. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A small to medium-sized (207 to 326 mm. snout-vent length in adults) slender form of Monopeltis with the dorsal surface immaculate or marked by only a diffuse scattering of melanophores. Specimens have 228 to 284 body (see geographic variation), three to six lateral and seven to 11 (generally nine) caudal annuli (up to the smoothly rounded tip that may show faint lateral compression), 22 to 37 dorsal (see geographical variation) plus 14 to 26 (generally 16, 18, or 20) ventral segments to a midbody annulus and two (rarely three) large segments to the first plus three to seven (generally five) to the second postgenial row. The azygous head shields are discrete in juveniles, but almost completely fused in specimens larger than 130 mm. The strongly keratinized shield of larger specimens lacks any trace of an ocular notch. The nasals do not contact each other or the ocular, from which they are separated by broad contact between the azygous head shield and the second supralabial. They often contact the lip, either anterior to a reduced first supralabial, or by fusion with this (leading to two supralabials). There are six parietal shields. The pectoral region is long and slender. The medial pair of the six slender shields (which correspond dorsally to five body annuli) is longest and extends farthest anteriorly, so that the narrowed last prepectoral annulus makes a short radius curve around the anterior end of the shield. The lateral sulci are poorly expressed and dorsal and ventral ones are absent. There are diagonal folding lines on the dorsum. Many specimens have no supernumerary dorsal half-annuli; there are never more than three and some specimens show a reduction of up to nine half-annuli. The dorsal interannular sutures cross the trunk at right angles to its long axis. Two large precloacal pores lie on the terminal segments of the first lateral annulus, which are in contact with the large median pair of precloacal shields. No autotomy occurs. (Broadley et al. 1976) |
| Comment | Synonymy that of BROADLEY et al. (1976). BAUER et al. (1995) indicate that PETERS 1879 is the author of this species. Distribution: Original type locality: ‘‘Mocambique und Angola’’, but not in Angola fide Marques et al. 2018 (who do not mention mauricei). Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. |
| Etymology | Named after the Greek “sphenos” = cuneiform, wedge, and “rhynchos” (ῥύγχος) = snout, trunk, referring to the shape of its snout. |
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