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Dalophia ellenbergeri (ANGEL, 1920)

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Higher TaxaAmphisbaenidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymMonopeltis ellenbergeri ANGEL 1920
Monopeltis ellenbergeri — MONARD 1931: 97
Dalophia ellenbergeri — GANS et al. 1976
Tomuropeltis ellenbergeri —BRYGOO 1990: 10
Tomuropeltis ellenbergeri — FRANK & RAMUS 1995
Dalophia ellenbergeri — GANS 2005: 30
Dalophia ellenbergeri — LONGRICH et al. 2015
Dalophia ellenbergeri — PIETERSEN et al. 2021 
DistributionZambia, Angola

Type locality: ‘‘Lealui Dist. (Haut-Zambéze)’’.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: MNHN-RA 1920.0078-0080 (3 specimens) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A medium-sized (365 to 420 mm. snout-vent length in adults), slender species of Dalophia lacking dark pigmentation. The species has 312 to 344 body, three to four lateral and 35 to 43 (one specimen has 30) caudal annuli, 14 to 21 (generally 16 or 18) dorsal plus 11 to 14 (generally 12) ventral segments to a midbody annulus and two to five (generally four) first and four to nine (generally seven or eight) second postgenials. The azygous head shields are broadly fused and only lateral blind sutures occur (even in juveniles). The most heavily keratinized zone does not reach the parietal edge of the shield in juveniles. There are no preoculars. The nasals are usually in medial contact and generally fail to reach the lip; their slender posterior processes usually make contact with the oculars. There are four parietal shields. The elongate pectoral region has six slender shields, the medial ones slightly wider posteriorly and the lateral ones irregular. The four midventral segments of the precloacal annulus are enlarged and more or less wedged between the medial and adjoining pairs of pectorals. Lateral sulci are clearly expressed, but the middorsal sulcus is shown by aligned intersegmental sutures or a zigzag pattern caused by non-alignment of dorsal quarter-annuli. Additions or subtractions of dorsal half-annuli are few, but occur primarily in the second and third 50 body annuli. The species has but traces of herringbone pattern of the dorsal interannular sutures of the trunk. There is a well-marked caudal autotomy site of the sixth to eighth (generally seventh or eighth) caudal annulus. The middorsal segments of the tail may be partially or completely fused across the midline. The interannular sutures here form an anteriorly acute set of angles with the median (their points may be rounded). Each leg of the chevron is as wide as three or four more anterior segments. (Broadley et al. 1976: 451)


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Comment 
EtymologyNamed after Victor Ellenberger (1879-1972), a Protestant evangelical missionary, naturalist and anthropologist in Southern Africa. He was born to a Swiss family in Lesotho, sent to France for his education, became a French national, and returned to the mission in Africa (1903-1934) before returning to France in 1935. 
References
  • Angel, F. 1920. Liste de reptiles du Haut-Zambèze et de l'Afrique australe. Description d'une espèce nouvelle du genre Monopeltis. Bull. Mus. natl. Hist. nat. Paris 26 (7): 614-617 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. G. 1997. Geographic distribution. Dalophia ellenbergeri. African Herp News (26):34-35. - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G., Gans,C. & Visser, J. 1976. Studies on Amphisbaenians. (6). The Genera Monopeltis and Dalophia in Southern Africa. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 157 (5): 311-486 - get paper here
  • Brygoo, E. R. 1990. Les types d'Amphisbaenidés, Pygopodidés, Xantusiidés (Reptiles, Sauriens) du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle - Catalogue critique. Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. 12 (ser. 4) A (3-4), suppl.: 3-18
  • Conradie W, Keates C, Verburgt L, Baptista NL, Harvey J, Júlio T, Neef G. 2022. Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi River drainages. Part 2: Lizards (Sauria), chelonians, and crocodiles. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 16(2): 181–214 (e322) - get paper here
  • Gans, C. 2005. CHECKLIST AND BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE AMPHISBAENIA OF THE WORLD. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 289: 1-130 - get paper here
  • Laurent, R.F. 1947. Notes sur les Amphisbaenidae d'Afrique. Revue. Zool. Bot. Afr. Vol. 40: 52-63
  • Longrich, Nicholas R.; Jakob Vinther , R. Alexander Pyron , Davide Pisani , Jacques A. Gauthier 2015. Biogeography of worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) driven by end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Proc Biol Sci. 2015 May 7;282(1806). pii: 20143034. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.3034. - get paper here
  • Marques, Mariana P.; Luis M. P. Ceríaco , David C. Blackburn , and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola -- Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (Ser. 4) 65: 1-501 (Supplement II)
  • Monard, ALBERT 1931. Mission scientifique Suisse dans l'Angola. Résultats scientifiques. Reptiles. Bull. Soc. Neuchâtel Sci. Nat., vol. 33, pp. 89-111. [1930] - get paper here
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
 
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