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Rena humilis BAIRD & GIRARD, 1853

IUCN Red List - Rena humilis - Least Concern, LC
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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. 
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