Amphisbaena metallurga COSTA, RESENDE, TEIXEIRA, VECHIO & CLEMENTE, 2015
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Amphisbaena metallurga?
Amphisbaena metallurga
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| Higher Taxa | Amphisbaenidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | Portuguese: Cobra-de-Duas-Cabeças, Cobra-Cega |
| Synonym | Amphisbaena metallurga COSTA, RESENDE, TEIXEIRA, VECHIO & CLEMENTE 2015 |
| Distribution | Brazil (Minas Gerais) Type locality: Brazil: Minas Gerais: Conceição do Mato Dentro, semi-deciduous seasonal forest, ca. 18°54′ S, 43°25′ W, 700 m elevation, southern Espinhaço Range (Fig. 2). |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: FUNED 2943 (Fig. 1A–G), collected in August 2009 or May 2010 (no specific date available), by Dimitri Lima Gouvêa and Sarita Pimenta de Oliveira. Paratypes. FUNED 2940–2942, 2944, 2945, 2947–2949, 2951–2960, UFMG 2080 (ex. FUNED 2946), 2081 (ex FUNED 2950), collected in August 2009 or May 2010 (no specific date available) by Dimitri Lima Gouvêa and Sarita Pimenta de Oliveira. All paratypes from the type-locality. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Amphisbaena metallurga sp. nov. is diagnosed by the following combination of characters: (1) head round-shaped; (2) two or three precloacal pores sequentially arranged; (3) 190–199 body annuli; (4) 2–3 lateral annuli; (5) 23–25 caudal annuli; (6) autotomy plan on 7th – 9th caudal annulus; (7) 12–14 dorsal segments on midbody annulus; (8) 14–16 ventral segments on midbody annulus; (9) three supralabials; (10) three infralabials; (11) postmalar row usually present; (12) body slenderness proportion from 32.6 to 38.3; (13) dorsum of preserved specimens light brown, with cream intersegmental sutures; (14) venter of preserved specimens cream colored. |
| Comment | Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). |
| Etymology | The specific name of the new species is a transliteration of the Greek μεταλλουργος (metalloyrgos), meaning “miner” (Liddle and Scott 1996). It is here used as an adjective that agrees in gender with the generic name. The name refers to the fossorial habits of amphisbaenians, which use the head to dig underground tunnels like a miner. Paradoxically, this new “mining reptile” was found in the area where a slurry pipeline is being installed. “Miner” is also the translation of the Portuguese words “mineiro” and “mineira”, masculine and feminine adjectives referring to native inhabitants of the state of Minas Gerais, where the new species was discovered. |
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