Amphisbaena longinqua TEXEIRA JUNIOR, DAL VECHIO, RECODER, CASSIMIRO, SENA & RODRIGUES, 2019
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Amphisbaena longinqua?
Amphisbaena longinqua
Find more photos by Google images search: 
| Higher Taxa | Amphisbaenidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Amphisbaena longinqua TEXEIRA JUNIOR, DAL VECHIO, RECODER, CASSIMIRO, SENA & RODRIGUES 2019 |
| Distribution | Brazil (Bahia) Type locality: Serra do Cafundó, Piatã municipality, (13°02′06.61′′S, 41°45′21.98′′W, 1,386 m elevation, WGS84), Bahia state, Brazil |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. MZUSP 106166, collected by the authors, on 24 December 2010. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. (1) Small species (holotype: SVL = 134 mm), (2) two precloacal pores, arranged in a continuous series; (3) snout rounded in profile and dorsal view; (4) body annuli 232; (5) caudal annuli 27; (6) autotomy site at the 7th caudal annulus; (7) 16 dorsal and 18 ventral segments per annulus at midbody; (8) 3 supralabials; (9) 3 infralabials, second the largest; (10) 2 rows of postgenials; (11) postmalar row absent; (12) head without major scale fusions; (13) lateral sulcus present; (14) dorsal and ventral sulci absent. Comparison with other species. Meristic characters are presented in Table 1. In the description below, characters from other species are presented in parenthesis. Among the South American two-pored Amphisbaena species, the rounded snout immediately distinguishes the new species from A. cerradensis (Ribeiro et al., 2008), A. maxima (Ribeiro et al., 2012) (dorsoventrally compressed, shovellike snout), and A. bilabialata (Stimson, 1972) (laterally compressed, with a conspicuous vertical keel). The number of precloacal pores in A. acrobeles is unknown (Ribeiro et al., 2009), but its snout also ends in an extensive vertical keel. The rounded tail diagnoses the new species from A. absaberi (Strüssmann and Carvalho, 2001), A. bahiana, A. roberti Gans, 1964 (a sharp terminal vertical keel on tail), A. leeseri Gans, 1964, and A. bilabialata (a blunt terminal vertical keel). The presence of two pores arranged in a continuous series distinguishes the new species from A. absaberi, A. anomala (Barbour, 1914), A. bilabialata, A. carli Pinna et al., 2010, A. cerradensis, A. hiata Montero and Céspedez, 2002, and A. maxima (scales bearing pores separated from each other by one or more non-pored scales). Among the remaining two-pored, South American species of Amphisbaena, the 232 body annuli distinguish the new species from A. anaemariae, A. brevis Strüssmann and Mott, 2009, A. crisae, A. darwinii Duméril and Bibron, 1839, A. heterozonata Burmeister, 1861, A. metallurga Costa et al., 2015, A. mitchelli Procter, 1923, A. neglecta Dunn and Piatt, 1936, and A. silvestrii (139–220, in combination), and from A. caiari Teixeira Jr. et al., 2014, A. filifor‐ mis Ribeiro et al., 2016, and A. miringoera Vanzolini, 1971 (233–342, in combination). The number of caudal annuli (27) differs from all species (< 26) except A. mitchelli (26– 29). The presence of the autotomic site at caudal annulus 7 differs from A. anaemariae, A. brevis, A. crisae, A. dubia Müller, 1924, A. filiformis, A. leeseri, and A. neglecta (autotomy site absent or anterior to caudal annulus 6). The combined presence of 16 dorsal and 18 ventral segments per annuli differs from all species (10–15 and 10–20 ventral segments, in combination), except A. darwinii, A. du‐ bia, and A. heterozonata (13–19 dorsal and 16–22 ventral segments, in combination). |
| Comment | Known only from the holotype. Habitat: The holotype was found under a roadside rock in a cashew plantation at 1,386 m a.s.l. The area is dominated by semi-deciduous montane forest (Fig. 8), with rocky outcrops, in a moun- tain range locally known as Serra do Cafundó (Fig. 9 in Texeira-Junior et al. 2019). |
| Etymology | The specific epithet is the Latin adjective “longinquus” (feminine longinqua) in reference to the Portuguese noun “Cafundó,” an African word, that gives name to the locality where it was collected, and that means “place of difficult access”, especially when situated between mountains or when remote and sparsely populated. |
| References |
|
| External links |