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Typhlops agoralionis THOMAS & HEDGES, 2007

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Higher TaxaTyphlopidae (Typhlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: La Hotte Blindsnake 
SynonymTyphlops agoralionis THOMAS & HEDGES 2007: 9
Typhlops agoralionis — HEDGES et al. 2014
Typhlops agoralionis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 757 
DistributionHaiti (Grande Anse)

Type locality: 8.0 km S Marché Léon, 435 m elevation, Dépt. de la Grande Anse, Haiti.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 564777 (field tag number 191925), collected on 28 May 1991, by S. B. Hedges, M. Leal, N. Plummer, R. Thomas. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: This is a moderate sized 20-scale-row species of Typhlops having no posterior reduction. Typhlops agoralionis is sympatric with T. hectus and differs from that species in having a narrow, nearly parallel-sided rostral, in contrast to the clavate rostral of T. hectus that widens towards the tip (Fig. 6). The rostral difference also is reflected in lower, essentially non-overlapping, RW1/RL1 values (0.41–0.45 versus 0.45– 0.64). It also has a large, broadly rounded anterior projection of the preocular and a shorter, more steeply angled suture between the preocular and the second supralabial; this is in contrast to the preocular of T. hectus which is V-shaped and pointed (Fig. 6). The rostral wide point of T. agoralionis is smaller and does not overlap with that of T. hectus (0.14–0.32 versus 0.41–0.70). The edges of the posterior nasals flanking the rostral are parallel-side or slightly divergent. Typhlops agoralionis is also a shorter-tailed species (TL/TA 27–31, males) than either T. hectus or T. proancylops (TL/TA 20–24, males). Heavy pigmentation with pigment on the facial region and on the body extends irregularly across the venter, although the ventral pigmentation is lighter by virtue of both lessened intensity and dropping out of scales. Typhlops agoralionis is generally more similar to T. proancylops than to T. hectus but differs from T. proancylops in having a more straight-sided, somewhat narrower rostral and in the anterior extension of the preocular being rounded rather than with breaks (Fig. 3); the apical diameter averages larger (Fig. 6D) and the suture length between the preocular and third labial scale is shorter (Fig. 6E) in T. agoralionis versus T. proancylops. 
CommentAbundance: this is one of the species called “lost” and “rediscovered” by Lindken et al. 2024. 
EtymologyFrom the Greek, agora, market place, and Latin, lionis (genitive), lion, in reference to the town of Marché Léon, whence the type locality is reckoned, and may be more or less rendered “of the lion of the marketplace.” 
References
  • 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
  • Kornilios, P.; S. Giokas, P. Lymberakis, R. Sindaco 2013. Phylogenetic position, origin and biogeography of Palearctic and Socotran blind-snakes (Serpentes: Typhlopidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 68 (1): 35–41 - get paper here
  • Lindken T.; Anderson, C. V., Ariano-Sánchez, D., Barki, G., Biggs, C., Bowles, P., Chaitanya, R., Cronin, D. T., Jähnig, S. C., Jeschke, J. M., Kennerley, R. J., Lacher, T. E. Jr., Luedtke, J. A., Liu, C., Long, B., Mallon, D., Martin, G. M., Meiri, 2024. What factors influence the rediscovery of lost tetrapod species? Global Change Biology, 30: 1-18 - get paper here
  • THOMAS R. & S.B. HEDGES 2007. Eleven new species of snakes of the genus Typhlops (Serpentes: Typhlopidae) from Hispaniola and Cuba. Zootaxa 1400: 1-26 - 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.
 
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