Sundatyphlops polygrammicus (SCHLEGEL, 1839)
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Sundatyphlops polygrammicus
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| Higher Taxa | Typhlopidae (Asiatyphlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | Sundatyphlops polygrammicus brongersmai (MERTENS 1929) Sundatyphlops polygrammicus elberti (ROUX 1911) Sundatyphlops polygrammicus florensis (BOULENGER 1897) Sundatyphlops polygrammicus polygrammicus (SCHLEGEL 1839) Sundatyphlops polygrammicus undecimlineatus (MERTENS 1927) |
| Common Names | E: Lesser Sunda Blindsnake, North-Eastern Blindsnake, (Southern New Guinea blindsnake is inappropriate) |
| Synonym | Typhlops polygrammicus SCHLEGEL 1839: 40 Typhlops (Pseudotyphlops) polygrammicus — FITZINGER 1843: 24 Typhlops polygrammicus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1844: 301 Argyophis polygrammicus — GRAY 1845: 138 Typhlops polygrammicus — BOULENGER 1893: 34 Typhlops florensis BOULENGER 1897: 505 Typhlops polygrammicus — DE ROOIJ 1917: 6 Typhlops florensis undecimlineatus MERTENS 1927 Typhlops soensis DE JONG 1930: 117 Typhlops polygrammicus polygrammicus — LOVERIDGE 1948: 320 Typhlina polygrammica — MCDOWELL 1974: 35 Typhlina polygrammica — AUFFENBERG 1980 Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus — MCDIARMID et al. 1999: 72 Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus soensis — ISKANDAR & MUMPUNI 2002 Sundatyphlops polygrammicus — HEDGES et al. 2014 Anilios polygrammicus — PYRON & WALLACH 2014 Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus — COGGER 2014: 809 Sundatyphlops polygrammicus — NAGY et al. 2015 Anilios polygrammicus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 40 Sundatyphlops polygrammicus brongersmai (MERTENS 1929) Typhlops florensis brongersmai MERTENS 1929: 294 Tphlops polygrammicus brongersmai — FORCART 1953 Typhlops florensis brongersmai — DAAN & HILLENIUS 1966: 139 Typhlina polygrammica brongersmai HAHN 1980 Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus brongersmai — DE LANG 2011 Sundatyphlops polygrammicus elberti (ROUX 1911) Typhlops elberti ROUX 1911: 499 Typhlops elberti — DE ROOIJ 1917: 7 Typhlops florensis elberti — MERTENS 1929 Typhlops polygrammicus elberti — FORCART 1953 Typhlina polygrammica elberti — HAHN 1980 Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus elberti — DE LANG 2011 Sundatyphlops polygrammicus florensis (BOULENGER 1897) Typhlops florensis BOULENGER 1897: 505 Tyyphiops floris BARBOUR 1912 (lapsus) Typhlops florensis — DE ROOIJ 1917: 10 Typhlops florensis florensis — MERTENS 1927: 240 Typhlops polygrammicus florensis — FORCART 1953 Typhlina polygrammica florensis — HAHN 1980 Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus florensis — DE LANG 2011 Sundatyphlops polygrammicus undecimlineatus (MERTENS 1927) Typhlops florensis undecimlineatus MERTENS 1927 Typhlops polygrammicus undecimlineatus — FORCART 1953 Typhlops polygrammicus undecimlineatus — DAREVSKY 1964 Typhlina polygrammica undecimlineata — HAHN 1980 Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus undecimlineatus — DE LANG 2011 |
| Distribution | Indonesia (Timor, Sumba, Lombok, Flores, Sumbawa, Komodo), Timor-Leste Type locality: Timor, Indonesia polygrammicus: Timor brongersmai: Sumba (Baing, Kananggar, Langgai, Lindiwatju, Mao Marru, Ratehiring, Waimangura). elberti: Lombok (Sajang, Sewela) florensis: Flores (Mount Ambulombo, Mount Mborong, Rana Mese, Ruteng, Sita, Wae Reno, Wai Sano). undecimlineatus: Sumbawa (Batudulang, Semongkat Atas), Moyo (Brang Kua, Tanjung Pasir), Komodo, Moyo |
| Reproduction | oviparous. |
| Types | Holotype: RMNH 3712 Holotype: SMF 16669 [elberti] Holotype: SMF 22092 [undecimlineatus] Holotype: ZMA.RENA 11179; paratype: MZB [brongersmai] Holotype: MZB, now lost; paratypes: MZB, ZMA [soensis] Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.10.47 (formerly BMNH 1897. 6.21.32) [florensis] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): Sundatyphlops can be unambiguously diagnosed from Anilios by a combination of just two characters: midbody and middorsal scale rows. For example, of the ten species of Anilios having the same number of midbody scale rows (22) as Sundatyphlops, none has middorsal scale row counts that overlap with those of Sundatyphlops (453–496), as shown in Table 2 of Pyron & Wallach (2014). Thus, Sundatyphlops is morphologically diagnosable, phylogenetically distinct and should be considered as a valid genus [NAGY et al. 2015]. Diagnosis. Species of Sundatyphlops have (1) eye, distinct, (2) snout, rounded, (3) head scale arrangement, non-circular, (4) frontorostral, absent, (5) nasal, incompletely or completely divided, (6) nasal suture origin, supralabial 1, 2, or 1/2 suture, (7) suboculars or subpreoculars, unreported, (8) postoculars, unreported, (9) preoc- ular-labial contact, supralabials 2–3, (10) midbody scale rows, 22, (11) scale row reduction, unreported, (12) total scale rows, 496, (13) caudals, 16, (14) maximum total length, 395 mm, (15) total length/midbody diameter, 33–58 (average, 45.5), (16) total length/tail length, 15–52 (average, 33.3), (17) dorsal color, usually dark brown, olive, olive gray, or pale yellow, (18) ventral color, whitish, whitish-pink, or pale yellow, (19) dorsum darker than (rarely similar to) venter, (20) pattern of longitudinal dark lines on yellow ground color, sometimes with same lineate pattern (but paler) on venter (Tables 1–2); only one species is included in the molecular phylogeny (Fig. 1). As noted in the previous account, Sundatyphlops shares with Acutotyphlops, Anilios, and Ramphotyphlops a solid, awn-like protrusible hemipenis and retrocloacal sacs (Robb 1966; McDowell 1974), although not all species have been examined for those traits. From Acutotyphlops, Sundatyphlops can be distinguished by lacking a fron- torostral scale. From Anilios, it can be distinguished by its larger maximum size (mean among species, 395 versus 353 mm TL), higher mean number of midbody scales (22 versus 20.1), and longer tails (TL/TA = 33.3 versus 49.7; averages). From Ramphotyphlops, it can be distinguished by its higher total scale rows (496 versus 419; averages) and larger maximum size (395 versus 302 mm TL; only R. angusticeps, 455 mm TL, has a greater maximum size) [HEDGES et al. 2014: 40]. |
| Comment | Subspecies: according to HAHN 1980 and de LANG 2011, although the status of these subspecies seems to be unclear. See Iskandar 2001 (Treubia) for details. De Lang (2011) states that florensis and polygrammicus are so alike that it is impossible to distinguish them. Synonymy: note that the Australian and Papuan populations of the former Typhlops polygrammicus have been split off into what is now Anilios torresianus by HEDGES et al. 2014. Typhlops bipartitus SAUVAGE 1879 has been removed from the synonymy of T. polygrammicus by PYRON & WALLACH 2014. NAGY et al. 2015 revalidated Sundatyphlops. However, since it is a basal member of the Anilios clade, we leave it within Anilios for the time being. Distribution: not in Australia (Queensland) as reported previously (e.g. Cogger 2014: 809). The populations in Queensland are now considered to be A. torresianus. Type species: Typhlops polygrammicus SCHLEGEL 1839: 40 is the type species of the genus Sundatyphlops HEDGES et al. 2014. |
| Etymology | The generic name is a masculine noun formed from the adjective sundanus (a, um; i.e., ‘from Sunda’) and the Greek noun typhlops (the blind). |
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