Cynisca kraussi (PETERS, 1878)
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Cynisca kraussi
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| Higher Taxa | Amphisbaenidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Ghana Worm Lizard |
| Synonym | Amphisbaena kraussi PETERS 1878: 192 Cynisca kraussi — GANS 1967 Cynisca kraussi — GANS 1987: 43 Cynisca kraussi — BAUER et al. 1995: 67 Cynisca kraussi — GANS 2005: 28 Cynisca kausi — MEASEY & TOLLEY 2013: 105 (in error) |
| Distribution | SE Ghana (NW Ashanti) Type locality: “Westafrika”. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Syntypes: ZMB 9375, ZMUC R4470; two paralectotypes: SMNS 1346.a.-b.; other specimens: BMNH 1946.1.6.90 (Banda Hills, Ghana), MCZ (Somanya, Ghana) |
| Diagnosis | DIAGNOSIS: Nasal, preocular, and prefrontal discrete. Ocular discrete (pentagonal, diagonally placed). A small, median azygous shield in 9 of the 39 specimens. Two preocular and one postocular supralabials. Frontals small, triangular. Occipital relatively large, clearly derived from second body annulus. Very large postocular supralabial in narrow contact with postocular (-parietal) that has broad contact with the midline, with the occipital, and with a very large first postsupralabial that appears to have fused with the temporal. Second postsupralabial small, forming part of second body annulus (that more dorsally contributes the occipitals). Snout generally pointed, preocular region swollen. 3 supralabials and 2 infralabials. Mental flanked by enormous first infralabials; its posterior tip separated into a postmental. One row of 2-4 small postgenials anterior to the enlarged malars and a second row of 4 to 7 between them. 208-226 body annuli; 16-19 caudal annuli. Most specimens have a hump in the tail leading to a spatulate depressed distal tip covered dorsally by a rosette of segments (and which is underlain by a faint terminal ossification). Midbody segments, 14-20 dorsal, 12-16 ventral. Median ventral segments enlarged, paired. 8 large round precloacal pores. Autotomy site at the 6th to 7th caudal annulus. (Gans 1987: 43) Additional details (7713 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. |
| Etymology | Named after Dr. Christian Ferdinand Friedrich von Krauss (1812-1890), German collector, traveler, botanist and pharmacist who studied in Tübingen and Heidelberg. After traveling to South Africa he joined Staatliche Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart, becoming its Director (1856). |
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