Amphisbaena ridleyi BOULENGER, 1890
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Amphisbaena ridleyi
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| Higher Taxa | Amphisbaenidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Ridley's Worm Lizard Portuguese: Cobra-de-Duas-Cabeças, Cobra-Cega |
| Synonym | Amphisbaena ridleyi BOULENGER 1890 Amphisbaena ridleyi — GANS 1963 Amphisbaena ridleyi — ESTES & WILLIAMS 1984 Amphisbaena ridleyi — MAUSFELD et al. 2002 Amphisbaena ridleyi — GANS 2005: 19 Amphisbaena ridleyi — GRABOSKI et al. 2022 |
| Distribution | Brazil (Fernando de Noronha, a small volcanic archipelago in the equatorial South Atlantic (3°51’S and 32°25’W), 350 km off the northeastern Brazilian coast). Type locality: ‘‘Porto Bello’’ (= Brazil, according to G. Boulenger, 1890a) and ‘‘Fernando Noronha,’’ Brazil; restricted to ‘‘Fernando da Noronha, Brazil’’ (Gans, 1963: 103). |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Lectotype: BMNH 88.1.19.7. Lectoparatypes: BMNH 88.1.19.8–88.1.19.15; KM R-4443; MCZ 10789; MNHN = MHNP 90–419; SMF 11825; BMNH V.2.2a:RR-1960.1.4.39 (‘‘Porto Bello, W. Indies’’ 5 ‘‘Brazil’’), ZMUC |
| Diagnosis | Original description: Praemaxillary teeth 5 or 7, maxillaries 5-5, mandibulars 8-8. Snout obtusely pointed, slightly prominent. Tail thinner than the body, tapering. Rostral small, triangular; nasals forming a short suture a pair of very large præfrontals, followed by a pair of much smaller frontals; eye hardly distinguishable through the ocular ; a postocular, no subocular; three large upper labials, the second and third forming a suture with the ocular; lower border of second labial as long as or a little longer than that of the first, in contact with the second lower labial only mental quadrangular, followed by a large seven-sided chin-shield, which is much longer than broad broad; three lower labials, second very large. 180 to 196 annuli on the body and 18 to 20 on the tail the divisions of the annuli longer than broad, nearly equilateral on the middle of the belly, but nowhere broader than long ; 16 to 18 divisions above, and 20 to 24 below the lateral line. Anal shields SIX or eight. Prœanal pores four. Uniform brown or dark purplish brown above, pale brown inferiorly.” (Boulenger 1890). Variation and comparisons: 16 specimens were collected by Mr. Ridley. One has 180 annuli on the body, one 181, one 182, three 183, two 185, two 186, one 187, one 188, oue 189, one 190, one 195, and one 196; two have 18 annuli on the tail, eleven 19, and three 20. The “Porto-Bello" specimen has 189 annuli on the belly, and 19 on the tail. The number of annuli in five specimens of A. caeca (including the type) recorded by Strauch are respectively 212 + 15, 215 + 13, 227 +18, 230 + 16, and 247+15. Duméril and Bibron give 226-329+18. A specimen from Porto Rico, which I owe to the kindness of Prof. Lütken, has 228+19. Considering that the number 247 + 15 given by Strauch is taken from a specimen in the Paris Museum, received from the Copenhagen Museum as from the island of St. Thomas, where only A. fenestrata (Cope) = antillensis, R. & L., is known to occur, as Prof. Lütken kindly informs me, it is clear to me that the specimen with 247 annuli belongs to A. fenestrata. The number of annuli would range, in A. caeca from 212 to 229, and in the present species from 180 to 196. According to Strauch, the length of the labial border of the first labial shield in A. caeca is about one half the length of that of the second; on Peters's figure of the type specimen, as well as in the Porto Rico specimen before me, it is about two thirds in A. Ridleyi both are equal, or the former is a little longer. The snout is longer and somewhat more prominent, the tail thicker and more obtuse in A. caca than in A. Ridleyi. The ventral segments of the two median rows are broader than long in the former species, the coloration of which is also different. (Boulenger 1890) |
| Comment | Similar species: A. caeca; Boulenger himself as well as Gray considered the specimen in the British Museum to be A. caeca until Boulenger described it as new species, A. ridleyi. |
| Etymology | named afterthe collector of the types, Mr. Ridley. |
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