You are here » home › advanced search › search results › Rena humilis

Rena humilis BAIRD & GIRARD, 1853

IUCN Red List - Rena humilis - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Rena humilis?

Add your own observation of
Rena humilis »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaLeptotyphlopidae, Epictinae, Epictini, Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesRena humilis cahuilae KLAUBER 1939
Rena humilis humilis (BAIRD & GIRARD 1853)
Rena humilis utahensis TANNER 1938 
Common NamesE: Western Threadsnake
cahuilae: Desert Blind Snake, Desert Threadsnake
humilis: Southwestern Blind Snake/Threadsnake
utahensis: Utah Blind Snake/Threadsnake
G: Mexikanische Schlankblindschlange
S: Culebrilla Lombriz del Suroeste 
SynonymRena humilis BAIRD & GIRARD 1853: 143
Stenostoma humile — PETERS 1858
Catadon dugesii BOCOURT 1881
Catodon dugesii BOCOURT 1881
Siagonodon dugesii — BOCOURT 1882: 507
Rena dugesii — COPE 1887: 64
Glauconia humilis — BOULENGER 1893: 70
Rena humilis — VAN DENBURGH 1895: 136
Siagonodon humilis — VAN DENBURGH 1897
Leptotyphlops humilis — RUTHVEN 1907
Leptotyphlops humilis humilis — KLAUBER 1931
Leptotyphlops humilis slevini KLAUBER 1931
Leptotyphlops dugesii — TAYLOR 1940: 143
Leptotyphlops humilis dugesi — KLAUBER 1940
Leptotyphlops chumilis RHODES (error typographicus) 1966
Leptotyphlops humilis levitoni MURPHY 1975: 94
Leptotyphlops humilis lindsayi MURPHY 1975: 96
Leptotyphlops humilis levitoni — HAHN 1979
Leptotyphlops humilis lindsayi — HAHN 1979
Leptotyphlops humilis — STEBBINS 1985: 171
Leptotyphlops humilis dugesii — TANNER 1985: 623
Leptotyphlops humilis — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 32
Leptotyphlops humilis levitoni — LINER & CASAS-ANDREU 2008
Leptotyphlops humilis lindsayi — LINER & CASAS-ANDREU 2008
Rena humilis — ADALSTEINSSON, BRANCH, TRAPE, VITT & HEDGES 2009
Rena humilis — CROTHER et al. 2012
Rena humilis dugesii — REYES et al. 2014
Rena humilis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 632
Rena humilis — FLORES-VILLELA et al. 2022

Rena humilis cahuilae (KLAUBER 1939)
Leptotyphlops humilis cahuilae — TAYLOR 1939
Leptotyphlops humilis cahuilae KLAUBER 1931 (fide CROTHER 2000)
Leptotyphlops humilis cahuilae — LOOMIS & STEPHENS 1967
Leptotyphlops humilis cahuilae — HAHN 1979
Leptotyphlops humilis cahuilae — CROTHER 2000: 65
Rena humilis cahuilae — CROTHER et al. 2012

Rena humilis humilis (BAIRD & GIRARD 1853)
Rena humilis BAIRD & GIRARD 1853: 143
Leptotyphlops humilis humilis — CROTHER 2000: 65

Rena humilis utahensis TANNER 1938
Leptotyphlops humilis utahensis TANNER 1938
Leptotyphlops humilis utahensis — HAHN 1979
Leptotyphlops humilis utahensis — CROTHER 2000: 65
Rena humilis utahensis — CROTHER et al. 2012
Rena humilis utahensis — FLORES-VILLELA et al. 2022 
DistributionUSA (S California, S Nevada, S Arizona, S New Mexico, S Texas),
Mexico (Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, N Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit)

boettgeri (invalid): Mexico (Baja California Sur and Cerralvo Island); Type locality: unknown (fide HAHN 1980).

cahuilae: SE California, SW Arizona; Mexico (Baja California); Yaqui Well, San Diego County, California, USA.

chihuahuaensis: Mexico (Chihuahua); Type locality: 10.7 km (6.7 mi) NW of Ciudad Chihuahua (west of Highway 45).

dugesii (invalid): Mexico (Sonora)

humilis: USA (S California, S Nevada, Arizona); Mexico (N Baja California); Type locality: "Valliecitas", California, USA.

levitoni (invalid): Mexico (Baja California: Isla Santa Catalina); Type locality: Isla Santa Catalina, Gulf of California, Mexico (26° 40' N., 110° 47' W.).

lindsayi (invalid): Mexico (Baja California: Isla Carmen); Type locality: Isla Carmen, Gulf of California, Mexico (25° 57' N., 111° 12' W.).

slevini (invalid): Baja California Cape region; Type locality: La Paz, Baja California.

utahensis: SW Utah, SE Nevada. Type locality: Saint George, Washington County, Utah, USA.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 2101 (humilis)
Holotype: SDNHM = SDSNH 2637 [cahuilae]
Holotype: BYU 17000, adult male [chihuahuaensis]
Holotype: CAS 135146 [levitoni]
Holotype: SDNHM = SDSNH 44386 [lindsayi]
Holotype: CAS 53721 [slevini]
Holotype: BYU 662 [utahensis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Species of Rena have 14 midbody scale rows, 10 (12 rarely) midtail scale rows, 168–312 middorsal scale rows, 9–21 subcaudals, 2–3 supralabials, moderate or large (rarely small) anterior supralabials, 205–389 mm maximum adult total length, a body shape of 26–60 (total length/width), a relative tail length of 3.1–8.6 %, a tail shape of 1.9–3.8, no striped pattern, brown or purplish brown dorsal color, and white venter (Table 2 in ADALSTEINSSON et al. 2009). They also have a small supraocular scale. They are distinguished from the other genus in this subtribe, Tricheilostoma, by having a white (not brown or pale brown) venter, usually two supralabials (three in R. bressoni, R. dissecta, and R. myopica), and in having a higher number (on average) of middorsal scales (Table 2). The support for this group was 100% BP and 100% PP for the four-gene tree (Fig. 3); only one species was included in the nine-gene tree (Fig. 4). (from ADALSTEINSSON et al. 2009).


Additional details (2363 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSubspecies: Subspecific classification according to HAHN 1980 and LINER 1994. Leptotyphlops humilis tenuiculus is a synonym of Leptotyphlops dulcis iversoni fide Smith et al. 1998. Grismer (1999) synonymized Leptotyphlops humilis levitoni with Leptotyphlops humilis (and lindsayi as well, but “tentatively”). R. h. dugesii has been treated as valid species by some recent authors but that’s not universally accepted.

Type species: Rena humilis BAIRD & GIRARD 1853 is the type species of the genus Rena BAIRD & GIRARD 1853.

Synonymy: Kaiser et al. 2013 considered the generic name Evanwhittonus Hoser 2012 invalid and rejected its use instead of Rena. Wallach et al. 2014 listed all subspecies as synonyms.

Distribution: Not listed for San Luis Potosí by Lemos-Espinal & Dixon 2013. Reports from Coahuila represent R. h. segregus, now a valid species. Not in Durango fide Lemos-Espinal (2018). Not in Sinaloa (Lemos-Espinal & Smith 2020). 
EtymologyThe Latin humilis means small, or ground-dwelling.

The subspecies cahuilae is named in reference to Lake Cahuila near the type locality; utahensis was named after the state of Utah.

The genus name is feminine and derived from the Latin noun ren (kidney), apparently in allusion to the kidney color (reddish brown) of the type species. 
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
  • Babb, Randall D. and Thomas C. Brennan. 2013. Colenyx variegatus (western banded gecko) and Rena humilis (western threadsnake) attempted predation. Herpetological Review 44 (3): 507-508 - get paper here
  • Baird, S. F. and C. Girard. 1853. Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part 1.-Serpents. Smithsonian Inst., Washington, xvi + 172 pp. - get paper here
  • Banta, Benjamin H. 1953. Some herpetological notes from southern Nevada. Herpetologica 9: 75-76 - get paper here
  • Bezy, Robert L. and Charles J. Cole 2014. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Madrean Archipelago of Arizona and New Mexico. American Museum Novitates (3810): 1-24 - get paper here
  • Bocourt, M. E. 1873. In: A. Duméril, M. F. Bocourt, and F. Mocquard, (1870-1909), Etudes sur les reptiles, p. i-xiv; In Recherches Zoologiques pour servir a l'Histoire de Ia Faune de l'Amérique Centrale et du Mexique. Mission Scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amérique Ce Imprimerie Impériale, Paris, Livr. 2-15, pp. 33-860. - get paper here
  • Bocourt, M. F. 1879. Etudes sur les reptiles, p. i-xiv, 1-1012. In Recherches Zoologiques pour servir a l'Histoire de Ia Faune de l'Amérique Centrale et du Mexique. Mission Scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amérique Centrale, Recherches zoologiques. Part 2, sect. 1; In A Imprimerie Impériale, Paris [3, Pt. 6], pp. 360–440. - 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
  • Brattstrom, Baynard H. 1953. An ecological restriction of the type locality of the western worm snake, Leptotyphlops h. humilis. Herpetologica 8: 180-181 - get paper here
  • Brattstrom, Baynard H.;Schwenkmeyer, Richard C. 1951. Notes on the natural history of the worm snake, Leptotyphlops humilis. Herpetologica 7: 193-196 - get paper here
  • CLAUSE, ADAM G. & GREGORY B. PAULY. 2021. Geographic distribution: LEPTOTYPHLOPS HUMILIS (Western Threadsnake). USA: CALIFORNIA: San Bernardino Co. Herpetological Review 52 (3): 578–579. - get paper here
  • Cole, Jeffery A. 1994. Leptotyphlops humilis (western blind snake). USA: Arizona. Herpetological Review 25 (4): 168 - get paper here
  • Conant,R. & Collins,J.T. 1991. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin (Boston/New York), xx + 450 p.
  • Cope, E.D. 1887. Catalogue of batrachians and reptiles of Central America and México. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 32: 7-98 - get paper here
  • Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92
  • Cruz-Sáenz, Daniel, Ángeles Penilla-Juarez and David Lazcano. 2013. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Western Mexico 10: Herpetofauna of the Protected Natural Area “Estero El Salado” and Adjacent Areas in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 48 (9):117-119 - get paper here
  • Davis DR, LaDuc TJ 2018. Amphibians and reptiles of C. E. Miller Ranch and the Sierra Vieja, Chihuahuan Desert, Texas, USA. ZooKeys 735: 97-130 - get paper here
  • Degenhardt, William G.; C. W. Painter, and A. H. Price 1996. Amphibians and reptiles of New Mexico. Univ. New Mexico Press, 431 pp.
  • Dixon, James R. 2000. Amphibians and reptiles of Texas, second edition. Texas A&M University Press, 421 pp.
  • Fugler, Charles M.;Dixon, James R. 1961. Notes on the herpetofauna of the El Dorado Area of Sinaloa, Mexico. Publications of the Museum, Michigan State University, Biological Series 2 (1): 1-24
  • García, A. & Ceballos, G. 1994. GUIA DE CAMPO DE LOS REPTILES Y ANFIBIOS DE LA COSTA DE JALISCO, MEXICO. FUNDACION ECOLOGICA DE CUIXMALA, A.C. INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA, UNAM - get paper here
  • Garman, Samuel 1884. The reptiles and batrachians of North America. Mem. Mus. comp. Zool, Cambridge (Massachusetts), 8 (3): xxxiv + 185 pp. [1883] [CNAH reprint 10] - get paper here
  • Grismer, L. Lee. 1999. An evolutionary classification of reptiles on islands in the Gulf of California, México. Herpetologica 55 (4): 446-469 - get paper here
  • Hahn D E 1979. Leptotyphlops humilis (Baird and Girard). Western blind snake. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (232): 1-4 - get paper here
  • Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 pp
  • 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
  • Hunt, J.D. 2017. Geographic Distribution: Rena humilis humilis (Southwestern Threadsnake). Herpetological Review 48 (4): 814-815 - get paper here
  • Jones, K.B.; Abbas, D.R. & Bergstedt, T. 1981. Herpetological records from Central and Northeastern Arizona. Herpetological Review 12 (1): 16 - get paper here
  • Kaiser, H.; Crother, B.I.; Kelly, C.M.R.; Luiselli, L.; O’Shea, M.; Ota, H.; Passos, P.; Schleip, W.D. & Wüster, W. 2013. Best Practices: In the 21st Century, Taxonomic Decisions in Herpetology are Acceptable Only When Supported by a Body of Evidence and Published via Peer-Review. Herpetological Review 44 (1): 8-23
  • Kay, Fenton R. 1970. Leptotyphlops humilis in Death Valley, California. Great Basin Naturalist 30 (2): 91-93 - get paper here
  • Klauber, Laurence M. 1931. Notes on the worm snakes of the southwest, with descriptions of two new subspecies. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 6 (23): 333-352 - get paper here
  • Klauber, Laurence M. 1938. Notes from a herpetological diary, I. Copeia 1938 (4): 191-197 - get paper here
  • Klauber, Laurence M. 1939. A new subspecies of the western worm snake. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 9 (14): 67-68 - get paper here
  • Klauber, Laurence M. 1940. The worm snakes of the genus Leptotyphlops in the United States and Northern Mexico. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 9 (18): 87-162 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Rorabaugh JC 2019. A conservation checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Sonora, Mexico, with updated species lists. ZooKeys 829: 131-160 - get paper here
  • Loc-barragán J.A., D., Lazcano y G.A Woolrich-Piña. 2018. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico 2: Amphibians and Reptiles of the Municipality of Compostela. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 53(10): 205-212
  • Loc-Barragán JA, Smith GR, Woolrich-Piña GA, Lemos-Espinal JA 2024. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nayarit, Mexico with conservation status and comparison with adjoining States. Herpetozoa 37: 25-42 - get paper here
  • Loc-Barragán, Jesús Alberto and David Lazcano 2018. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico 1: Amphibians and Reptiles of the Municipality of Tecuala. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 53(4):73-80
  • Loomis, Richard B.;Stephens, Robert C. 1967. Additional notes on snakes taken in or near Joshua Tree National Monument, California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 66 (1): 1-22 - get paper here
  • Luja VH, López JA, Cruz-Elizalde R, Ramírez-Bautista A 2017. Herpetofauna inside and outside from a natural protected area: the case of Reserva Estatal de la Biósfera Sierra San Juan, Nayarit, Mexico. Nature Conservation 21: 15-38 - 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.
  • Mocquard, M.F. 1899. Contribution a la faune herpétologique de la Basse-Californie. Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Natur.Paris, 4th Series, Vol. 1: 297-343 + plates XI-XIII - get paper here
  • Murphy, R. W. 1975. Two new blind snakes (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae) from Baja California, Mexico with a contribution to the biogeography of peninsular and insular herpetofauna. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 40 (5): 93 - 107 - get paper here
  • Murphy, R. W.; Ottley, J. R. 1984. Distribution of amphibians and reptiles on islands in the Gulf of California. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 53 (8): 207-230 - get paper here
  • Nevárez-de los Reyes; Manuel, David Lazcano, Javier Banda-Leal and Ian Recchio 2014. Notes on Mexican Herpetofauna 22: Herpetofauna of the Continental Portion of the Municipality of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 49(8):105-115 - get paper here
  • Peralta-García A, Valdez-Villavicencio JH, Fucsko LA, Hollingsworth BD, Johnson JD, Mata-Silva V, Rocha A, DeSantis DL, Porras LW, and Wilson LD. 2023. The herpetofauna of the Baja California Peninsula and its adjacent islands, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 17(1&2): 57–142
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1858. Vier neue amerikanische Schlangen aus der Familie der Typhlopinen und darüber einige vorläufige Mittheilungen. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1857 (August): 402 [1857] - get paper here
  • Peterson, H. William;Smith, Hobart M.;Chizsar, David 1995. Some noteworthy amphibians and reptiles from the region of Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 30 (5): 90-91 - get paper here
  • Punzo, Fred 1974. Comparative Analysis of the Feeding Habits of Two Species of Arizona Blind Snakes, Leptotyphlops h. humilis and Leptotyphlops d. dulcis. Journal of Herpetology 8 (2): 153-156 - get paper here
  • Rhodes 1966. Zool. Record (1964), Rept.: 81.
  • Rosas-Espinoza, V.C.; Rodríguez-Zaragoza, F.A.; Álvarez-Grzybowska, E.; Peña-Joya, K.E.; Santiago-Pérez, A.L.; Godoy-González, A.A.; Huerta-Martínez, F.M. 2024. Taxonomic and Functional Diversity of Reptiles in a Heterogeneous Landscape of Jalisco State, West-Central Mexico. Diversity 2024, 16, 394 - get paper here
  • Ruthven, A. G. 1907. A collection of reptiles and amphibians from southern New Mexico and Arizona. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. (23): 483-604 - get paper here
  • Salcido-Rodríguez, Israel; Francisco Isaac Hernández-Valadez , Adriana Elizabeth Castillo-Franco , Daniel Cruz-Sáenz , Edgar Emmanuel Hernández-Juárez , David Lazcano , Lydia Allison Fucsko and Larry David Wilson 2023. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Western Mexico 31: Herpetofauna from Sierra de Tesistán, Zapopan,. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 58(10):165-171 - get paper here
  • Smith, H. M.; Larsen, K. R. 1974. The name of the Baja California cape wormsnake. Great Basin Naturalist 34 (2): 94-96 - get paper here
  • Stebbins,R.C. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston
  • Stejneger, L. 1891. Notes on some North American snakes. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 14 (876): 501-505 - get paper here
  • Tanner, V.M. 1935. Western Worm snake, Siagonodon humilis (Baird and Girard) found in Utah. Proceedings of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters 12: 267-270
  • Tanner, Vasco M. 1938. A new subspecies of worm snake from Utah. Proc. Utah Acad. Sci. Arts Letters, Provo, 15: 149-150
  • Tanner, Wilmer W. 1985. Snakes of Western Chihuahua. Great Basin Naturalist 45 (4): 615-676 - get paper here
  • Taylor,E.H. 1939. On North American snakes of the genus Leptotyphlops. Copeia 1939 (1): 1-7 - get paper here
  • Taylor,E.H. 1940. Herpetological miscellany, no. I. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 26 [1939] (15): 489-571 - get paper here
  • Tennant, A. 2003. Snakes of North America - Eastern and Central Regions, revised edition. Lone Star Books, 605 pp.
  • Tennant, A. & Bartlett, R.D. 2000. Snakes of North America - Eastern and Central Regions. Gulf Publishing, Houston, TX, 588 pp.
  • Tuday, Cleopatra and Adam G. Clause. 2016. Geographic Distribution: Rena humilis humilis (Southwestern Threadsnake). Herpetological Review 47 (2): 264-265 - get paper here
  • Turner, D. S., Van Devender, T. R., Hale, S. F., Zach, R., Martínez, R., Van Devender, R. W., ... & Paholski, C. 2022. Amphibians and reptiles of Rancho Las Playitas area, Sonora, Mexico. Sonoran Herpetologist, 35, 50-59 - get paper here
  • Valdez-Lares, R.; R. Muñiz-Martínez; E.Gadsden; G. Aguirre-León; G. Castañeda-Gaytán; R. Gonzalez-Trápaga 2013. Checklist of amphibians and reptiles of the state of Durango, México. Check List 9 (4):714-724 - get paper here
  • Van Denburgh,J. 1895. A review of the herpetology of Lower California. Part I - Reptiles. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (2) 5: 77-163 - get paper here
  • Van DENBURGH,J. 1897. The reptiles of the Pacific coast and Great Basin. An account of the species known to inhabit California, and Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Nevada. Occ. Pap. Cal. Acad. Sci. (5): 1-236 - 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.
  • Webb, R.G. 1984. Herpetogeography in the Mazatlán-Durango Region of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico. Vetrebrate Ecology and Systematics - A ribute to Henry S. Fitch; Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, pp. 217-241
  • Werler, John E. & James R. Dixon 2000. Texas Snakes. University of Texas Press, 544 pages
  • Werner, F. 1899. Beschreibungen einiger neuer Schlangen und Batrachier. Zool. Anz. 22: 114-117 - get paper here
  • Woolrich-Piña, Guillermo A, Paulino Ponce-Campos, Jesús Loc-Barragán, Juan Pablo Ramírez-Silva, Vicente Mata-Silva, Jerry D. Johnson, Elí García-Padilla and Larry David Wilson. 2016. The herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (2): 376-448 - get paper here
  • Zweifel, Richard G. 1959. Additions to the herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico. American Museum Novitates (1953): 1-13 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Rena&species=humilis

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



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator