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Anilios longissimus (APLIN, 1998)

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Higher TaxaTyphlopidae (Asiatyphlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymRhamphotyphlops longissimus APLIN 1998
Ramphotyphlops longissimus — COGGER 2000: 768
Austrotyphlops longissimus — WALLACH 2006
Ramphotyphlops longissimus — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 414
Ramphotyphlops longissimus — MARIN et al. 2013
Anilios longissimus — HEDGES et al. 2014
Ramphotyphlops longissimus — COGGER 2014: 805
Anilios longissimus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 39
Anilios longissimus — TIATRAGUL et la. 2023 
DistributionNW Australia (Barrow Island)

Type locality: Bandicoot Bay, Barrow Island, Western Australia, 20°54' S, 115°22' E.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: WAM R120049, Western Australian Museum, an adult female collected on 22 May 1995 by Mr Lloyd Whitsed. Heart and liver frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored in -80°C ultrafreeze at the Western Australian Museum. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: An exceptionally elongate and slender Ramphotyphlops with 16 midbody scale rows, extremely high number of vertebral scales (approx. 750), strongly depressed, rectangular-shaped head with inflated and rounded rostrum, nasal cleft intersecting the second labial scale and terminating just forward of the nostril, and head and body almost completely without pigment [from APLIN 1998].

Color: In life, body appeared translucent, without any obvious pigment apart from very small eyes. Under magnification, preserved specimen shows no other pigment in anterior body but very faint reticulation ('ghosting' of dorsal scale margins) posteriorly. 
CommentType species: Ramphotyphlops longissimus Aplin 1998 is the type species of the subgenus Jackyhosertyphlops Hoser 2013: 46 (subgenus of Libertadictus Wells & Wellington 1984), both synonyms of Anilios (fide SHEA 2015). 
EtymologyLongissimus (Latin): extremely long. 
References
  • Aplin, K. P. 1998. Three new blindsnakes (Squamata: Typhlopidae) from northwestern Australia. Rec. West. Austr. Mus. 19 (1): 1-12 - get paper here
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Tiatragul, S., Skeels, A., & Keogh, J. S. 2023. Paleoenvironmental models for Australia and the impact of aridification on blindsnake diversification. Journal of Biogeography - 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.
 
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