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Anilios aspina (COUPER, COVACEVICH & WILSON, 1998)

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Higher TaxaTyphlopidae (Asiatyphlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymRamphotyphlops aspina COUPER et al. 1998
Ramphotyphlops aspina — COGGER 2000: 767
Austrotyphlops aspina — WALLACH 2006
Ramphotyphlops aspina — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 406
Libertadictus aspina — HOSER 2012: 22
Ramphotyphlops aspina — WILSON & SWAN 2013: 436
Libertadictus (Buckleytyphlops) aspina — HOSER 2013: 49
Anilios aspinus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 36
Anilios aspinus — HEDGES et al. 2014
Anilios aspinus — PYRON & WALLACH 2014
Ramphotyphlops aspina — COGGER 2014: 795
Anilios aspina — SHEA 2015
Anilios aspina — TIATRAGUL et la. 2023 
DistributionAustralia (Queensland)

Type locality: Margot Stn, 20 km N Barcaldine (23°27'S, 145°16'E) CQ [= central Queensland]  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: QM J51541, donated 1990 by Tim Pulsford. PARATYPE: QMJ7, Coreena Stn, Barcaldine (23°17'S, 145°24'E) CQ, registered 26 May, 1911, donated W.C. Miller. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Ramphotyphiops aspina lacks a caudal spine. It is further distinguished from other members of the genus by the following characters combined: 18 midbody scale rows; 403-428 ventrals; snout bluntly-rounded from above, rounded and flattened laterally; rostral elongate from above; nasal not completely divided by nasal cleft, clearly visible from above and joining second supralabial below. 
CommentType species: Ramphotyphlops aspina Couper et al. 1998 is the type species of the subgenus Buckleytyphlops Hoser 2013: 48 (subgenus of Libertadictus Wells & Wellington 1984), both synonyms of Anilios (fide SHEA 2015). 
EtymologyLatin, “a-” = without, and spina, a spine in reference to the diagnostic lack of a terminal tail spine (Couper et al. 1998); a noun in apposition, hence aspina is correct. 
References
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Couper, P. J., J. A. COVACEVICH & S. K. WILSON 1998. Two new species of Ramphotyphlops (Squamata: Typhlopidae) from Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 42: 459-464 - get paper here
  • Hedges, S.B., Marion, A.B., Lipp, K.M., Marin, J. & Vidal, N. 2014. A taxonomic framework for typhlopid snakes from the Caribbean and other regions (Reptilia, Squamata). Caribbean Herpetology 49: 1–61 - get paper here
  • Hoser, R.T. 2012. A review of the extant scolecophidians (“blindsnakes”) including the formal naming and diagnosis of new tribes, genera, subgenera, species and subspecies for divergent taxa. Australasian J. Herpetol. 15: 1–64. - get paper here
  • Hoser, R.T. 2013. The description of new snake subgenera, species and subspecies from Australia (Squamata: Serpentes). Australasian J. Herpetol. 16: 39–52
  • Pyron, R.A. & Wallach, V. 2014. Systematics of the blindsnakes (Serpentes: Scolecophidia: Typhlopoidea) based on molecular and morphological evidence. Zootaxa 3829 (1): 001–081 - get paper here
  • Shea, G.M. 2015. A new species of Anilios (Scolecophidia: Typhlopidae) from Central Australia. Zootaxa 4033 (1): 103–116 - get paper here
  • Tiatragul, S., Skeels, A., & Keogh, J. S. 2023. Paleoenvironmental models for Australia and the impact of aridification on blindsnake diversification. Journal of Biogeography, 50, 1899–1913 - get paper here
  • Wallach, V. 2006. The nomenclatural status of Australian Ramphotyphlops (Serpentes: Typhlopidae). Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 42 (1): 8-24 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Wells R W; Wellington C R 1984. A synopsis of the class Reptilia in Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology 1 (3-4): 73-129 [31 Dec 1983 on cover]
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2013. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 4th ed. New Holland Publishers, 592 pp.
 
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