Amphisbaena ignatiana VANZOLINI, 1991
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Amphisbaena ignatiana
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| Higher Taxa | Amphisbaenidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | Portuguese: Cobra-de-Duas-Cabeças, Cobra-Cega |
| Synonym | Amphisbaena ignatiana VANZOLINI 1991 Amphisbaena ignatiana — GANS 2005: 15 |
| Distribution | Brazil (Bahia) Type locality: Brazil; Bahia, Santo Indicio (11°06’S, 42°44’W). |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: MZUSP 72616. Paratopotypes: MZUSP 72615, 72617–72619. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A small, slender, elongate species (snout to vent 188 mm; head width 2.1-3.1 mm). Preanal pores 6. Body annuli 255-263; tail annuli 32-36. Autotomy level on tail annulus 6, externally inapparent. No dorsal or ventral sulci. Lateral sulci, weakly marked, on the posterior 3/4-4/5 of the trunk. Segments around midbody 16 above and 20-22 below the lateral sulci. Dorsal segments of the trunk dark brown with light sutures, the pattern extending to the lateral sulci orup to five segments below, the general outline crenelated (Vanzolini 1991). Description: Small, slender, relatively long tailed. Head narrower than the body, without a sharp separation: the neck becomes progressively thicker to the sixth or seventh body annulus, behind which the trunk is fairly cylindrical. The profile of the head with a strong convexity from the prefrontals to the tip of the snout; snout blunt but prominent. Lateral sulci weakly marked, becoming apparent between the 48th and the 67th body annuli. No external indication of an autotomy annulus, but in two specimens with broken tails the break occurring between the sixth and the seventh annulus. Rostral not or scarcely visible from above. Besides the three constant pairs of scales on top of the head (nasals, prefrontals, frontals), one pair of parietals, squarish to pentagonal. Median dorsal cephalic sutures sub-equal. The lateral sutures of the scales on the top and sides of the head forming a continuous, fairly smooth curve, from the parietals to the lip. Four upper labials; the first meeting the rostral in a definite suture; the second, the highest and largest, meeting above the nasal, the prefrontal and the ocular; the third meeting the ocular and the lower temporal; the fourth at the foot of the temporal row. Nostril on the antero-inferior quadrant of the nasal. Ocular roughly diamond-shaped; position of eye variable. One large upper temporal meeting the parietal, the frontal and the ocular, narrowly separated from the third supralabial (except on one side of one specimen, with point contact) by the lower temporal. Symphysial anvil-shaped, somewhat asymmetrical. Post-symphysial escutcheon-like, seven-sided, i.e., meeting the first upper labials at its anterior corners. Infralabials three, the second by far the largest, regular in shape or not. Lateral genials large, irregular. Median genials in two rows, respectively with two and with five or six scales. Two postgenial rows; the front one with eight scales, of which the outermost is much larger than the others. Sulci between successive body annuli well marked. Sutures between segments of the same annulus straight, well defined, better aligned on the ventral than on the dorsal aspect. Preanal pores 6 in all specimens, round, large, on the posterior half of the respective segments. Anal flap semicircular, with 8 scales; post-anal scales ca. 16, radially arranged, not in continuity with the anal flap. No external evidence of an autotomy annulus. Tail annuli regular, segments elongate and narrow, both dorsally and ventrally. Sutures evident on tail tip. Dorsum reticulate, the scales brown with light sutures. Belly creamy white, immaculate. The limit between the two areas varying from annulus to annulus, from the lateral sulcus to up to five segments below, the general outline being crenelated (Vanzolini 1991). |
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