You are here » home search results Anilios leptosoma

Anilios leptosoma (ROBB, 1972)

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Anilios leptosoma?

Add your own observation of
Anilios leptosoma »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaTyphlopidae (Asiatyphlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Murchison Blind Snake 
SynonymRamphotyphlops leptosomus ROBB 1972: 39
Typhlina leptosoma — HAHN 1980
Ramphotyphlops leptosoma — STORR 1981: 256
Ramphotyphlops leptosomus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 67
Ramphotyphlops leptosoma — COGGER 2000: 593
Austrotyphlops leptosomus — WALLACH 2006
Ramphotyphlops leptosomus — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 414
Ramphotyphlops leptosomus — MARIN et al. 2013
Anilios leptosomus — HEDGES et al. 2014
Ramphotyphlops leptosoma — COGGER 2014: 804
Anilios leptosomus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 39
Anilios leptosoma — ELLIS et al. 2017
Anilios leptosoma — TIATRAGUL et la. 2023
Anilios leptosomus — SZYNDLAR & GEORGALIS 2023 
DistributionAustralia (Western Australia)

Type locality: “The Loop”, lower Murchison River, Western Australia (27°33'S; 114°28'E)  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: WAM R29623, adult male; Paratype. WAM R29624, from ‘The Loop’, lower Murchison River, 35 km north-east of Kalbarri (27°33'S; 114°28'E) Western Australia, September 1967. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A moderately long, slender Anilios to about 400 mm total length. Distinguished from all other Anilios by a combination of midbody scales in 16 rows, dorsal body scales 583–781, snout in profile prominent with obtusely angular horizontal edge, snout rounded and weakly trilobed in dorsal view, nasal cleft originating from second supralabial, extending anteriorly to nostril and terminating at rostral scale, presence of a terminal tail spine and lack of any black colouration on head, body or tail [Ellis et al. 2017].


Additional details (1455 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentHabitat: specimens were collected from habitats supporting loose sands or loam substrates of various colour. One specimen was collected in open mallee woodland with Banksia ashbyi to 5 m with a canopy cover of less than 10% over Spinifex longifolius and mixed small to medium shrubs to 1.5 m with cover ranging from 30–70%, from soil below a clump of spinifex (R66343). One specimen was collected from amongst the roots of spinifex in a burnt eucalypt woodland on red soil (R57545) and another was found in a mallee woodland with low Acacia on yellowish-brown sand. Specimens from Binnu were raked from red sandy loam spoil heaps in Acacia and Casuarina shrubland (R146454–56, R146459). Two specimens (R55038 and R55039) were collected from under a cement slab at Wooramel homestead garden [Ellis et al. 2017]. 
EtymologyDerived from the Greek words leptos meaning fine or thin and soma meaning body in reference to the thin thread-like appearance of the species. The amendment to the specific epithet to A. ‘leptosomus’ by McDiarmid et al. (1999) and subsequently accepted by other authors (Hedges et al. 2014; Pyron & Wallach 2014; Wallach et al. 2014) is not warranted as it is a noun in apposition (Shea 2015). As Robb (1972) did not state explicitly the use of the word ‘soma’ as a noun or adjective, it is to be treated as a noun and does not change from A. leptosoma with the resurrection of Anilios by Hedges et al. (2014). However, note that Shea 2015 concluded that Anilios is male. 
References
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • ELLIS, RYAN J.; PAUL DOUGHTY, STEPHEN C. DONNELLAN, JULIE MARIN & NICOLAS VIDAL 2017. Worms in the sand: Systematic revision of the Australian blindsnake Anilios leptosoma (Robb, 1972) species complex (Squamata: Scolecophidia: Typhlopidae) from the Geraldton Sandplain, with description of two new species. Zootaxa 4323 (1): 001–024 - get paper here
  • Hedges, S.B., Marion, A.B., Lipp, K.M., Marin, J. & Vidal, N. 2014. A taxonomic framework for typhlopid snakes from the Caribbean and other regions (Reptilia, Squamata). Caribbean Herpetology 49: 1–61 - get paper here
  • Marin, J., Donnellan, S.C., Hedges, S.B., Puillandre, N., Aplin, K., Doughty, P., Hutchinson, M.N., Couloux, A. & Vidal, N. 2013. Hidden species diversity of Australian burrowing snakes (Ramphotyphlops). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, doi: 10.1111/bij.12132 - get paper here
  • Maryan, B., Gaikhorst, G., & Parkhurst, B. 2024. The terrestrial herpetofauna of the Zuytdorp coast and hinterland of Western Australia: Exceptional richness in a global biodiversity hotspot. Western Australian Naturalist, 33, 3
  • McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Robb, J. 1972. A new species of the genus Rhamphotyphlops (Serpentes: Typhlopidae) from Western Australia. J. Royal Soc. Western Australia. 55: 39-4 - get paper here
  • Storr G M 1981. The genus Ramphotyphlops (Serpentes: Typhlopidae) in Western Australia. Rec. West. Austr. Mus. 9 (3): 235-271 - get paper here
  • Szyndlar Z, Georgalis GL 2023. An illustrated atlas of the vertebral morphology of extant non-caenophidian snakes, with special emphasis on the cloacal and caudal portions of the column. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 717-886 - get paper here
  • Tiatragul, S., Skeels, A., & Keogh, J. S. 2023. Paleoenvironmental models for Australia and the impact of aridification on blindsnake diversification. Journal of Biogeography, 50, 1899–1913 - get paper here
  • Wallach, V. 2006. The nomenclatural status of Australian Ramphotyphlops (Serpentes: Typhlopidae). Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 42 (1): 8-24 - get paper here
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Anilios&species=leptosoma

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator