| Higher Taxa | Amphisbaenidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Slender Spade-snouted Worm Lizard |
| Synonym | Lepidosternon sphenorhynchum GRAY 1865 (nomen nudum)
Monopeltis sphenorhynchus PETERS 1879: 275
Monopeltis habenichti FITZSIMONS 1937
Monopeltis capensis gazei FITZSIMONS 1937
Monopeltis capensis gazei — FITZSIMONS 1943: 393
Monopeltis sphenorhynchus — BAUER et al. 1995: 68
Monopeltis sphenorhynchus — GANS 2005: 37
Monopeltis sphenorhynchus — BATES et al. 2014: 155 |
| Distribution | S Mozambique, Republic of South Africa (Transvaal, Natal, Cape Province, Bechuanaland), SE Botswana, S Mozambique
Type locality: restricted to ‘‘Inhambane, Mozambique”(Loveridge, 1941: 427).
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| Reproduction | |
| Types | Syntypes: ZMB 1400, 9423, (9424) fide GANS 1967], 9000;Lectotype: ZMB 1400, designated by GANS 2005. Paralectotype: ZMB 9423. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. A small to medium-sized (207 to 326 mm. snout-vent length in adults) slender form of Monopeltis with the dorsal surface immaculate or marked by only a diffuse scattering of melanophores. Specimens have 228 to 284 body (see geographic variation), three to six lateral and seven to 11 (generally nine) caudal annuli (up to the smoothly rounded tip that may show faint lateral compression), 22 to 37 dorsal (see geographical variation) plus 14 to 26 (generally 16, 18, or 20) ventral segments to a midbody annulus and two (rarely three) large segments to the first plus three to seven (generally five) to the second postgenial row. The azygous head shields are discrete in juveniles, but almost completely fused in specimens larger than 130 mm. The strongly keratinized shield of larger specimens lacks any trace of an ocular notch. The nasals do not contact each other or the ocular, from which they are separated by broad contact between the azygous head shield and the second supralabial. They often contact the lip, either anterior to a reduced first supralabial, or by fusion with this (leading to two supralabials). There are six parietal shields. The pectoral region is long and slender. The medial pair of the six slender shields (which correspond dorsally to five body annuli) is longest and extends farthest anteriorly, so that the narrowed last prepectoral annulus makes a short radius curve around the anterior end of the shield. The lateral sulci are poorly expressed and dorsal and ventral ones are absent. There are diagonal folding lines on the dorsum. Many specimens have no supernumerary dorsal half-annuli; there are never more than three and some specimens show a reduction of up to nine half-annuli. The dorsal interannular sutures cross the trunk at right angles to its long axis. Two large precloacal pores lie on the terminal segments of the first lateral annulus, which are in contact with the large median pair of precloacal shields. No autotomy occurs. (Broadley et al. 1976) |
| Comment | Synonymy that of BROADLEY et al. (1976). BAUER et al. (1995) indicate that PETERS 1879 is the author of this species.
Distribution: Original type locality: ‘‘Mocambique und Angola’’, but not in Angola fide Marques et al. 2018 (who do not mention mauricei). |
| Etymology | Named after the Greek “sphenos” = cuneiform, wedge, and “rhynchos” = snout, trunk, referring to the shape of its snout. |
| References |
- Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
- Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp.
- Bauer, A.M.; Günther,R. & Klipfel,M. 1995. The herpetological contributions of Wilhelm C.H. Peters (1815-1883). SSAR Facsimile Reprints in Herpetology, 714 pp.
- BOURQUIN, O. & V. GRUENER 2017. A NOTE ON THE HERPETOFAUNA OF MODISA CAMP (BOTSWANA) AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. African Herp News (64): 9-26 - get paper here
- Broadley, D G 1992. Amphisbaenia. Amphisbaenidae. Monopeltis sphenorhynchus mauricei Parker 1935. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa 41: 39 - get paper here
- Broadley, D.G. 1962. On some reptile collections from the North-Western and North-Eastern Districts of Southern Rhodesia 1958-1961, with descriptions of four new lizards. Occ. Pap. Nat. Mus. South. Rhodesia 26 (B): 787-843
- 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
- Broadley, Donald G. 2001. Geographical Distribution. Monopeltis sphenorhynchus. African Herp News (32):23-24 - get paper here
- FitzSimons, V. 1937. Three new lizards from South Africa. Annals Transvaal Mus. 17 (4): 275-279. - get paper here
- FitzSimons, V.F. 1943. The lizards of South Africa. Transvaal Museum Memoir No.1 (Pretoria), 528 pp.
- Fitzsimons, V.F.M.; Brain, C.K. 1958. A Short account of the Reptiles of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. Koedoe, 1(1): 99-104 - get paper here
- Fitzsimons,V.F.M. 1941. Descriptions of some new lizards from South Africa and a frog from southern Rhodesia. Annals Transvaal Mus. 20 (3): 273-281 - 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
- Gray,J.E. 1865. A revision of the genera and species of amphisbaenians with the descriptions of some new species now in the collection of the British Museum. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1865: 442-455. - get paper here
- Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
- Jacobsen, Niels H.G.; Errol W. Pietersen & Darren W. Pietersen 2010. A preliminary herpetological survey of the Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary on the San Sebastian Peninsula, Vilankulo, Mozambique. Herpetology Notes 3: 181-193
- JORDAAN, P. R., MEASEY, J., & COMBRINK, X. 2023. A Composite METHOD TO QUANTITATIVELY SURVEY FOSSORIAL HERPETOFAUNAL COMMUNITIES IN SANDY SUBSTRATE. Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 18(3), 540-550 - get paper here
- Loveridge, ARTHUR 1941. Revision of the African lizards of the family Amphisbaenidae. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 87: 353-451. - get paper here
- Manaças, SARA 1957. Contribuiçao para o estudo dos répteis (saurios e leptotiflopideos) de Moçambique. An. Junta Invest. Ultramar 9 (Pt. 3): 1-8
- Measey, John & Krystal A. Tolley 2013. A molecular phylogeny for sub-Saharan amphisbaenians. African Journal of Herpetology 62 (2): 100-108 - get paper here
- Parker, HAMPTON WILDMAN 1935. A new species of amphisbaenid lizard from Bechuanaland. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (10) 15: 582-583. - get paper here
- Peters,W.C.H. 1879. Über die Amphisbaenen und eine zu denselben gehörige neue Art (Lepidosternon Wuchereri). Monatsber. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1879: 273-277 - 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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