You are here » home search results Mitophis pyrites

Mitophis pyrites (THOMAS, 1965)

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Mitophis pyrites?

Add your own observation of
Mitophis pyrites »

We have no photos, try to find some by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaLeptotyphlopidae, Epictinae, Epictini, Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Barahona Threadsnake, Thomas' Blind Snake 
SynonymLeptotyphlops pyrites THOMAS 1965: 2
Leptotyphlops pyrites — THOMAS et al. 1985
Leptotyphlops pyrites — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 621
Leptotyphlops pyrites — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 40
Mitophis pyrites — ADALSTEINSSON, BRANCH, TRAPE, VITT & HEDGES 2009
Mitophis pyrites — WALLACH et al. 2014: 456
Mitophis pyrites — KLEIN et al. 2021 
DistributionHispaniola (SE Haiti, SW Dominican Republic).

Type locality: Pedernales, Pedernales Province, Dominican Republic, Hispaniola.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MCZ 77239. Paratypes: USNM 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Species of Mitophis have 14 (rarely 16) midbody scale rows, 12 midtail scale rows, 262–414 middorsal scale rows, 14–22 subcaudals, four (3–4 in M. leptepileptus) supralabials, moderate anterior supralabials, 143–205 mm maximum adult total length, a body shape of 43–94 (total length/width), a relative tail length of 3.8–5.0 %, a tail shape of 2.3–4.3, no striped pattern (except M. pyrites), a pale brown or unpigmented dorsum, and a brown or unpigmented venter (Table 2 in ADALSTEINSSON et al. 2009). They are distinguished from the other genus in this subtribe, Tetracheilostoma, by having a high number of middorsal scales (262–414 versus 170– 192), thinner body (43–94 versus 31–54), and a pale brown or unpigmented dorsum (not dark brown). The support for this group was 100% BP and 100% PP for the four-gene tree (Fig. 3) and 100% BP and 100% PP for the nine-gene tree (Fig. 4). [from ADALSTEINSSON et al. 2009].


Additional details (145 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentFor illustrations see Thomas, 1965.

Type species: Leptotyphlops pyrites THOMAS 1965 is the type species of the genus Mitophis pyrites HEDGES, ADALSTEINSSON & BRANCH 2009. 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality, Pedernales, which means "flints", hence "pyrites" the Greek equivalent.

The genus name is masculine and derived from the Greek nouns mitos (thread) and ophis (snake). 
References
  • Adalsteinsson, S.A.; Branch, W.R.; Trapé, S.; Vitt, L.J. & Hedges, S.B. 2009. Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the Family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata). Zootaxa 2244: 1-50 - get paper here
  • Klein, C.G., Pisani, D., Field, D.J. et al. 2021. Evolution and dispersal of snakes across the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Nat Commun 12, 5335 (2021) - 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.
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • Thomas, R. 1965. The genus Leptotyphlops in the West Indies with description of a new species from Hispaniola (Serpentes, Leptotyphlopidae). Breviora (222):1-12. - get paper here
  • Thomas, R., R. W. McDiarmid, and F. G. Thompson. 1985. Three new species of thread snakes (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae) from Hispaniola. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 98: 204-220. - 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.
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Mitophis&species=pyrites

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator