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Letheobia swahilica (BROADLEY & WALLACH, 2007)

IUCN Red List - Letheobia swahilica - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaTyphlopidae (Afrotyphlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Swahili gracile blind-snake 
SynonymLetheobia swahilica BROADLEY & WALLACH 2007: 46
Typhlops pallidus – (not COPE) STERNFELD 1908: 242
Typhlops pallidus – (not COPE) STERNFELD 1910: 12 (part)
Typhlops pallidus – BOULENGER 1915: 616 (part)
Typhlops pallidus – LOVERIDGE 1916: 82 (part)
Typhlops pallidus – LOVERIDGE 1924: 4 (part)
Typhlops pallidus – LOVERIDGE 1936: 227
Typhlops pallidus – WERNER 1921: 330 (part)
Typhlops pallidus – LOVERIDGE 1957: 244 (part)
Typhlops pallidus – BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 21 (part).
Rhinotyphlops pallidus – ROUX-ESTÈVE 1974: 217
Rhinotyphlops pallidus – ROUX-ESTÈVE 1975: 445 (part)
Rhinotyphlops pallidus – SPAWLS 1978: 2
Rhinotyphlops pallidus – HUGHES 1983: 354
Rhinotyphlops pallidus – BROADLEY & BROADLEY 1996: 45
Rhinotyphlops pallidus – SPAWLS et al. 2002: 295
Rhinotyphlops pallidus – SPAWLS et al. 2006: 92 (part)
Letheobia swahilica — HEDGES et al. 2014
Letheobia swahilica — WALLACH et al. 2014: 382
Letheobia swahilica — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 359
Letheobia swahilica — MALONZA 2024 
DistributionKenya, N Tanzania

Type locality: from old village of Ngatana, ca. one mile northwest from new village of Wema, in the lower Tana River, Coast Region, Kenya (02°30’S, 40°15’E, elevation 50 m).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MCZ 40076, a male collected by A. Loveridge, 14 June 1934. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Closely related to Letheobia pallida, distinguished by its more robust build (length/diameter ratio 49–62 vs 62–82) and fewer middorsals (376–392 vs 418–433).
Description: Snout rounded, prominent. Rostral very broad, truncated posteriorly; frontal crescentic; supraocular transverse, its lateral apex between nasal and ocular, the latter separated from the lip by a large subocular; eye usually not visible, but visible beneath the nasal/ocular sulcus in NMZB 14290; nasal suture arising from second labial; SIP X (N1, P, O, O); scale rows 24-22-22; MD 376–392; vertebrae 235–260; MD/ V ratio 1.56–1.62; L/D ratio 49–62. Colourless.
Size. Largest specimen (ZMB 25866 – Zanzibar Coast) 190 mm in total length. (BROADLEY & WALLACH 2007: 46) 
CommentHabitat: Coastal forest and environs. 
EtymologyNamed for the Swahili people of the coastal strip opposite Zanzibar Island. 
References
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1915. A list of the snakes of East Africa, north of the Zambesi and south of the Soudan and Somaliland, and of Nyasaland. Proc. Zool. Soc. London,1915, 611–640 - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G.; Broadley, S. 1996. Geographical Distribution - Rhinotyphlops pallidus. African Herp News (25): 45-45 - get paper here
  • Broadley, Donald G. & Wallach, V. 2007. A review of East and Central African species of Letheobia Cope, revived from the synonymy of Rhinotyphlops Fitzinger, with descriptions of five new species (Serpentes: Typhlopidae). Zootaxa 1515: 31–68 - 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
  • Hughes, B. 1983. African snake faunas. Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 34: 311-356 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1916. Report on the collection of Ophidia in the Society's Museum. The Journal of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society (Nairobi), 5(10), 76–87
  • Loveridge, A. 1957. Check list of the reptiles and amphibians of east Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar). Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 117 (2): 153-362 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, Arthur 1924. Check List of the Reptilia recorded from the British Territories in East Africa. Journ. E. Africa & Uganda Nat. Hist. Soc., Spec. Suppl. No. 3: 1-16. - get paper here
  • Loveridge,A. 1936. Scientific results of an expedition to rain forest regions in Eastern Africa. V. Reptiles. Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harvard 79 (5): 209-337 - get paper here
  • Malonza, P. K. 2024. A new species of gracile blind snake in the genus Letheobia (Squamata: Scolecophidia: Typhlopidae) from Sagalla Hill, south-eastern Kenya. African Journal of Herpetology, 1-8 - get paper here
  • Malonza, Patrick K.; David M. Mulwa, Joash O. Nyamache, Georgina Jones 2017. Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya. Zoological Research 38(5): 1-11 - get paper here
  • Roux-Estève, R. 1974. Recherches sur la morphologie, la biogeographie et la phylogenie des Typhlopidae d'Afrique. Instit. Francais d'Afr. Noire, Dakar, Bull. (Ser. A) 36: 428-510 [1975]
  • Roux-Estève, R. 1974. Révision systématique des Typhlopidae d'Afrique. Reptilia. Serpentes. Mém. nation. Hist. nat., Paris, (sér.A.) 87: 1-313
  • Spawls, S. 1978. A checklist of the snakes of Kenya. East Afr. Natur. Hist. Soc. and Natl. Mus., Nairobi, J. no. 167 18 pp.
  • Spawls, S., Howell, K.M. & Drewes, R.C. 2006. Reptiles and amphibians of East Africa. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 240 pp
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
  • Sternfeld, R. 1908. Zur Schlangenfauna Ostafrikas. I. Schlangen aus Süd-Abessinien. II. Schlangen aus Britisch-Ostafrika. III. Schlangen aus Portugiesisch-Ostafrika. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin 4(1): 236–247 - get paper here
  • Sternfeld, R. 1910. Die Fauna der deutschen Kolonien: Die Schlangen Deutsch-Ostafrikas. Berlin, R. Friedländer & Sohn, (3)2, iv + 47 pp.
  • Wallach, V. & Gemel, R. 2018. Typhlops weidholzi n. inedit., a new species of Letheobia from the republic of Cameroon, and a synopsis of the genus (Squamata: Serpentes: Scolecophidia: Typhlopidae). Herpetozoa 31 (1/2): 27 - 46 - get paper here
  • Werner, F. 1921. Synopsis der Schlangenfamilie der Typhlopiden auf Grund des Boulenger'schen Schlangenkatalogs (1893-1896). Archiv für Naturgeschichte 87A: 266-330
 
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