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Anomalepis mexicana JAN, 1860

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Higher TaxaAnomalepididae, Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mexican Blind Snake 
SynonymAnomalepis mexicanus JAN in JAN & SORDELLI 1860-1866
Anomalepis mexicana — BOULENGER 1893: 58
Anomalepis dentatus TAYLOR 1939: 90
Anomalepis dentatus — TAYLOR 1951: 24
Anomalepis mexicanus — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 20
Anomalepis mexicanus — SMITH & SMITH 1976
Anomalepis mexicanus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 48
Anomalepis mexicanus — SAVAGE 2002
Anomalepis mexicanus — MCCRANIE 2011: 40
Anomalepis mexicanus — MCCRANIE 2015
Anomalepis mexicanus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 43
Anomalepis mexicana — BÖHME & DENZER 2019
Anomalepis mexicanus — SUNYER & MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA 2023 
DistributionNicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia (Bolívar), possibly Peru (fide Kofron 1988)

Type locality: see comment

dentatus: Panama; Type locality: Barro Colorado Island.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: unlocated, MSNM (Milano, unknown fide Kofron 1988)
Holotype: MCZ 29220 [Anomalepis dentatus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): The blind worm snakes of this genus (four species) share the following diagnostic features that will separate them from the other three genera in the family: enlarged head scales, with those on the upper head surface forming polygonal plates; prefrontal plates meet on the midline to prevent any contact between the rostral and prefrontal; a roughly pentagonal frontal, with an ovate posterior margin. In addition there are 22 to 28 scale rows around the middle of the body, and the tail has a terminal spine. Typhlophis differs from Anomalepis by having small cycloid scales on the upper head surface so that prefrontal and frontal plates are not distinctive, but the tail terminates in a spine (Savage 2002: 553). 
CommentDistribution: The type locality (”Mexico”) is in error fide Kofron 1988. Not listed in LINER 1994.

This species has been known from only the type (fide TAYLOR 1939).

Type species: Anomalepis mexicanus JAN in JAN & SORDELLI 1860-1866 is the type species of the genus Anomalepis JAN 1860. The genus is also the type genus of the family Anomalepididae.

Phylogenetics: Miralles et al. 2018 showed that the Anomalepididae is a member of the Alethinophidia, not the Scolecophidia as previously thought. 
EtymologyNamed after the (erroneous) occurrence in Mexico (the original type locality). 
References
  • Böhme, W. & Denzer, W. 2019. Warum die Endungen adjektivischer Artnamen dem Geschlecht der Gattungsnamen angepasst werden müssen Sauria 41 (1): 55–62 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Carvajal-Cogollo, J.E.; L.E. Rojas-Murcia. & G. Cárdenas-Arévalo 2020. Reptiles del Caribe colombiano/ Reptiles of the Colombian Caribbean. Tunja: Editorial UPTC, 268 pp. - get paper here
  • González J, Medina-Rangel GF, Rojas-Murcia LE 2018. The first country record of the Mexican Blind Snake, Anomalepis mexicanus Jan, 1860 (Serpentes, Anomalepididae), in Colombia. Check List 14(6): 1047-1052 - get paper here
  • Jan, G. 1860. Iconographie générale des ophidiens. 1. Livraison. J.B. Bailière et Fils, Paris - get paper here
  • Kofron, C. 1988. The central and south-american blindsnakes of the genus Anomalepis. Amphibia-Reptilia 9: 7-14 - get paper here
  • Köhler, G.; Quintana, A.Z.; Buitrago, F. & Diethert H. 2004. New and noteworthy records of amphibians and reptiles from Nicaragua. Salamandra 40 (1): 15-24 - get paper here
  • Liner, E.A. 1994. Scientific and common names for the Amphibians and Reptiles of Mexico in English and Spanish. Herpetological Circular 23: 1-113
  • Marx,H. 1953. A new worm snake from Colombia, genus Anomalepis. Fieldiana: Zoology 34: 197-198 - get paper here
  • McCranie, James R. 2015. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with additions, comments on taxonomy, some recent taxonomic decisions, and areas of further studies needed. Zootaxa 3931 (3): 352–386 - get paper here
  • McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Miralles, A. , Marin, J. , Markus, D. , Herrel, A. , Hedges, S. B. and Vidal, N. 2018. Molecular evidence for the paraphyly of Scolecophidia and its evolutionary implications. J. evol. Biol., doi: 10.1111/jeb.13373 - get paper here
  • Ray, Julie M. and Patty Ruback 2015. Updated checklists of snakes for the provinces of Panamá and Panamá Oeste, Republic of Panama. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (2): 168-188 - get paper here
  • Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna Between Two Continents, Between Two Seas. University of Chicago Press, 934 pp. [review in Copeia 2003 (1): 205]
  • Solorzano, A. 2004. Serpientes de Costa Rica - Snakes of Costa Rica. Editorial INBio, Costa Rica, 792 pp.
  • Stickel, A.L., Abarca, J.G. & Pounds, J.A. 2017. Geographic Distribution: Anomalepis mexicanus (Mexican Blind Snake). Herpetological Review 48 (3): 589. - get paper here
  • Sunyer, Javier 2014. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (2): 186–202. - get paper here
  • Sunyer, Javier & José́ Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca 2023. An updated country checklist to the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. REVISTA NICARAGÜENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD (100): 1-25 - get paper here
  • Taylor,E.H. 1939. Two new species of the genus Anomalepis Jan, with a proposal of a new family of snakes. Proc. New England zool. Club 17: 87-96
  • Taylor,E.H. 1951. A brief review ot the snakes of Costa Rica. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 34 (1): 3-188 - 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.
 
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