Letheobia pallida COPE, 1869
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Letheobia pallida?
Letheobia pallida
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| Higher Taxa | Typhlopidae (Afrotyphlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Zanzibar Beaked Snake |
| Synonym | Letheobia pallida COPE 1869: 322 Typhlops pallidus — BOULENGER 1893: 54 Typhlops pallidus — LOVERIDGE 1955 Rhinotyphlops pallidus — ROUX-ESTÈVE 1974: 217 Typhlops pallidus — PITMAN 1974 Rhinotyphlops pallidus — LARGEN & RASMUSSEN 1993 Rhinotyphlops pallidus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 83 Rhinotyphlops pallidus — SPAWLS et al. 2001 Letheobia pallida — BROADLEY & WALLACH 2007 Letheobia pallida — HEDGES et al. 2014 Letheobia pallida — WALLACH et al. 2014: 381 Letheobia pallida — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 358 |
| Distribution | Zanzibar, Tanzania (Pemba Island), E Kenya, S Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda Type locality: Zanzibar. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Lectotype: MCZ 5723, designated by BROADLEY & WALLACH 2007, formerly in Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts; Syntype: ANSP 3300 |
| Diagnosis | Description: Snout rounded, prominent. Rostral very broad, truncated posteriorly; frontal crescentic; supraocular transverse, its lateral apex between nasal and ocular, the latter separated from the lip by a large subocular; eye not visible; nasal suture arising from second labial; SIP X (N1, P, O, O); scale rows 24-22-22; MD 418–4; vertebrae 274; MD/V ratio 1.54–1.58; L/D ratio 5–62. Colourless. For abbreviations see L. caeca. From BROADLEY & WALLACH 2007. Original description: “General characters: This genus differs from Typhlops in the subdivision of its ocular plate into two scales similar to those of the body; the superciliary plate is also undistinguishable from the latter. There appears to be no eyes. Superior labials three. This genus is between Typhlops and Helminthophis Peters, differing from the latter in its erect nasal plate, with nostril on the superior suture. The Onychocephalus caecus Duméril, from Gaboon, appears to belong to this genus; Comparisons: the two species may be distinguished as follows: Muzzle obtuse; rostral very wide, largely in contact with the superciliary plates; nasal large: L. pallida. Muzzle transversely acute ; rostral not reaching to superciliaries; nasal minute: L. caeca. Specific characters: Rostral subquadrate viewed from above, nearly as broad as long, in contact nearly equally with three scales above the fronto-nasals, viz., the frontal and two superciliaries. The subocular a little larger than the ocular; behind these a series of seven scales from the rictus to the median row, on each side. Preocular and fronto-nasal of equal width, the latter sending a very narrow point to the second labial behind the wider nasal. Nostril very near the rostral suture. Tail as long as width of head, acuminate. Scales equal, in twenty-two longitudinal rows. Form quite slender. Length 6 in. 3.5 lines diameter at middle 1.25 lines. Color pale flesh-color.” (Cope 1869: 322) |
| Comment | Habitat: Coastal mosaic. One of the types was taken from a well (Cope 1869). |
| Etymology | Named after Latin “pallidus” = pale or yellow(ish). |
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