You are here » home › advanced search › Amphisbaena mitchelli

Amphisbaena mitchelli PROCTER, 1923

IUCN Red List - Amphisbaena mitchelli - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Amphisbaena mitchelli?

Add your own observation of
Amphisbaena mitchelli »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaAmphisbaenidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mitchell's Worm Lizard
Portuguese: Cobra-de-Duas-Cabeças, Cobra-Cega 
SynonymAmphisbaena mitchelli PROCTER 1923
Amphisbaena mitchelli— GANS 1963: 3
Amphisbaena mitchelli— HOOGMOED & AVILA-PIRES 1991
Amphisbaena mitchelli — GANS 2005: 17
Amphisbaena mitchelli — PAIVA & COSTA 2023 
DistributionBrazil (Para, Maranhão)

Type locality: Brazil; Para, Island of Marajo (1°00’S, 49°30’W; erroneously given as 10°00’ S by Gans 2005).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1923.11.9.90:RR1946.8.2.31. 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS: A medium-sized form of Amphisbaena with two oval pre-cloacal pores; with the first parietals twice as wide and much larger than the frontals; and with three supralabials and three infralabials. The form has 211 to 220 body annuli; seven caudal annuli up to the autotomy constriction (at which the tail is autotomized in one specimen); 28 to 29 caudal annuli from the cloaca to the caudal tip which is faintly compressed lateraly; 12 to 14 dorsal and 14 to 16 ventral segments to a midbody annulus; and two precloacal pores. The color of preserved specimens is a uniform darkish brown, darker on the dorsal than on the ventral surface and without any particular variegation or differentiation of the head or tail (Gans 1963: 3). 
CommentDistribution: map in HOOGMOED & AVILA-PIRES 1991.

Morphology: This species is one of ~20 species of Amphisbaena with two precloacal pores (Ribeiro et al. 2019). 
EtymologyNamed after Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell (1864-1945), a journalist and zoologist. 
References
  • ALMEIDA, JOÃO PAULO FELIX AUGUSTO DE; FRANCISCO DAL VECHIO, MAURO JR. TEIXEIRA, MIGUEL TREFAUT RODRIGUES, TAMÍ MOTT 2016. Morphological similarities between Amphisbaena mitchelli Procter, 1923 and A. miringoera Vanzolini, 1971 (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae): phylogenetic relatedness or morphological convergence? Zootaxa 4168 (3): 573-576 - get paper here
  • Avila-Pires, Teresa C.S.; Kleiton R. Alves-Silva, Laís Barbosa, Fabrício S. Correa, Jorge F. A. Cosenza, Ana Paula V. Costa-Rodrigues, Aurea A. Cronemberger, Marinus S. Hoogmoed, Geraldo R. Lima-Filho, Adriano O. Maciel, Alexandre F. R. Missassi, Lyw 2018. Changes in Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Over Time in Parque Estadual do Utinga, a Protected Area Surrounded by Urbanization. Herpetology Notes 11: 499-512 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Cunha O R da ; do Nascimento F P; Sauer de Avila-Pires T C 1985. Os repteis da area de Carajas, Para, Brasil (Testudines e Squamata). 1. Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi PUBLICACOES AVULSAS (No. 40): 9-92 - get paper here
  • Gans, C. 1963. Notes on amphisbaenids (Amphisbaenia, Reptilia). 7. Redescription and redefinition of Amphisbaena mitchelli Procter and Amphisbaena slevini Schmidt from the middle and lower Amazon, Brazil. American Museum Novitates (2127): 1-22 - get paper here
  • Gans, C. 1964. Amphisbaena mitchelli Procter recorded from Belém, Pará, Brazil. Herpetologica 20 (3): 192-194 - get paper here
  • Gans, C. 2005. CHECKLIST AND BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE AMPHISBAENIA OF THE WORLD. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 289: 1-130 - get paper here
  • Gonzalez R. C. et al. 2020. Lista dos Nomes Populares dos Répteis no Brasil – Primeira Versão. Herpetologia Brasileira 9 (2): 121 – 214 - get paper here
  • Hoogmoed M.S.; de Avila-Pires T C S 1991. A new species of small Amphisbaena (Reptilia: Amphisbaenia: Amphisbaenidae) from western Amazonian Brazil. Boletim do Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi SERIE ZOOLOGIA 7 (1): 77-94
  • Paiva, C.L. Oliveira, H.J. & Costa, H.C. 2023. Updated distribution map of Amphisbaena mitchelli Procter, 1923 (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae) with a new record in Maranhão, Brazil. Revista Latinoamericana de Herpetología. 6(4):30–34. -- - get paper here
  • PINNA, PEDRO H.; ANDRÉ F. MENDONÇA; ADRIANA BOCCHIGLIERI & DANIEL S. FERNANDES 2010. A new two-pored Amphisbaena Linnaeus from the endangered Brazilian Cerrado biome (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae). Zootaxa 2569: 44–54 - get paper here
  • Procter, JOAN B. 1923. On new and rare reptiles from South America. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1923: 1061-1068. - get paper here
  • Ribeiro, Síria; Alfredo P. Santos-Jr, Lívia Carla Chagas, Hipócrates de Menezes Chalkidis 2014. Range extension and geographic distribution of Amphisbaena mitchelli Procter, 1923 in the state of Pará, Brazil. Check List 10 (5): 1229-1230 - get paper here
  • RIBEIRO, SÍRIA; JERRIANE O. GOMES, HELDER LÚCIO RODRIGUES DA SILVA, CARLOS EDUARDO D. CINTRA, NELSON JORGE DA SILVA JR. 2016. A new two-pored species of Amphisbaena (Squamata, Amphisbaenidae) from the Brazilian Cerrado, with a key to the two-pored species of Amphisbaena. Zootaxa 4147 (2): 124–142 - get paper here
  • RIBEIRO, SÍRIA; VÂNIA SÁ, ALFREDO P. SANTOS-JR, ROBERTA GRABOSKI, HUSSAM ZAHER, ANDREI G. GUEDES, SHEILA P. ANDRADE, WILIAN VAZ-SILVA 2019. A new species of the Amphisbaena (Squamata, Amphisbaenidae) from the Brazilian Cerrado with a key for the two-pored species. Zootaxa 4550 (3): 301–320 - get paper here
  • Silva, F.M.; A.C. Menks; A.L.C. Prudente; J.C.L. Costa; A.E.M. Travassos; U. Galatti. 2011. Squamate Reptiles from municipality of Barcarena and surroundings, state of Pará, north of Brazil. Check List 7 (3): 220-226 - get paper here
  • Teixeira, Mauro; Francisco Dal Vechio, Antonio Mollo Neto, and Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues 2014. A New Two-Pored Amphisbaena Linnaeus, 1758, from Western Amazonia, Brazil (Amphisbaenia: Reptilia). South American J. Herp. 9 (1): 62-74. - get paper here
  • Vanzolini, P.E. 2002. AN AID TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF AMPHISBAENA (SQUAMATA, AMPHISBAENIDAE). Pap. Avul. Zool., Sao Paulo 42(15):351-362 - get paper here
  • Vanzolini,P.E. 1991. Two new small species of Amphisbaena from the fossil dune field of the middle Rio São Francisco, State of Bahia, Brasil (Reptilia, Amphisbaenia). Pap. Avul. Univ. Sao Paulo. 37 (17): 259-276
  • Vaz-Silva, W.; RM Oliveira, AFN Gonzaga, KC Pinto, FC Poli, TM Bilce, M Penhacek, L Wronski, JX Martins, TG Junqueira, LCC, Cesca VY, Guimarães RD. Pinheiro 2015. Contributions to the knowledge of amphibians and reptiles from Volta Grande do Xingu, northern Brazil Braz. J. Biol., 75 (3) (suppl.): S205-S218 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator