Cadea blanoides (STEJNEGER, 1916)
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Cadea blanoides
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| Higher Taxa | Cadeidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Cuban Spotted Wormlizard, Spotted Amphisbaena |
| Synonym | Amphisbaena Punctata BELL 1827 (nec WIED 1825) Amphisbaena caeca COCTEAU 1838? (non CUVIER 1839) Amphisbaena punctata — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 494 Cadea punctata — GRAY 1865: 372 Cadea blanoides STEJNEGER 1916:85 (nom. nov.) Cadea blanoides — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 563 Amphisbaena blanoides — POWELL 1996: 64 Cadea blanoides — VIDAL et al. 2007 |
| Distribution | W Cuba, Isla de la Juventud Type locality: Cuba. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 1946.8.2.20. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): Vanzolini (1951a, p. 114) diagnosed this genus as follows: ''Snout compressed, pointed, or raised in a small keel. Basipterygoid processes, partes posteriores choanarum and supra-temporals present. Quadrate proximally dilated. Meckel's groove open. Dentition 7 ; 5 ; 7. One unpaired median shield adjacent to the rostral. Nasal shields separated from first labials." Gans & Alexander 1962: 136 added the following characters: “A narrow scale separating the azygous prefrontal from the supralabials. Head relatively pointed with quite distinct post-cephalic narrowing. Atlas (vertebra) consisting of two neural arch halves plus a hypocentrum. Dorsal and ventral folds (of the integument) absent, lateral folds expressed as a narrow zone in which half-annuli run out, with the division skipping back and forth between often non-aligned segments (Gans, 1960, p. 145, footnote). Dorsal segments rounded instead of rectangular (Plates 11 and 12). No caudal autotomy. Tail short, becoming wider in the immediate postcloacal region, flattened ventrally and domed dorsally. The precloacal pores in two series of very small segments running medially from the lateral edge of the precloacals, interspersed between the precloacals and the last, non-pore bearing, body annulus which often contacts the precloacals at the midline. The dorsal surface has a color pattern that is more or less independent of the segmental arrangement.” (Gans & Alexander 1962: 136) Additional details (667 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Recently assigned to Amphisbaena from Cadea (Hedges et al. 1992). Amphisbaena Punctata Bell 1827 is a junior homonym of Amphisbaena punctata Wied 1825. Synonymy: partly after BRYGOO 1990. Type species: Amphisbaena punctata Bell (= C. blanoides) is the type species of the genus Cadea GRAY 1844. Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. |
| Etymology | Probably named after Greek blanos "blind", (blan + -oides "like") which may be a reference to their underdeveloped eyes. The origin of the genus name is unclear, but possibly from Old Galacian-Portuguese cadea (= chain) (from the Latin catēna), presumably a reference to the chainlike appearance resulting from the annuli of this amphisbaenian. |
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