Higher Taxa | Leptotyphlopidae, Leptotyphlopinae, Myriopholini, Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Tana worm snake |
Synonym | Leptotyphlops tanae BROADLEY & WALLACH 2007: 28 Leptotyphlops longicauda — LOVERIDGE, 1936: 231(part.) Leptotyphlops longicaudus — SPAWLS, 1978: 3 (part.) Leptotyphlops cairi — HOEVERS & JOHN SON 1982: 182 (part.) Leptotyphlops longicaudus — SPAWLS et al. 2001: 304 (part.) Myriopholis tanae — ADALSTEINSSON, BRANCH, TRAPE, VITT & HEDGES 2009 Leptotyphlops tanae — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 433 Leptotyphlops tanae — WALLACH et al. 2014: 370 Leptotyphlops tanae — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 373 Leptotyphlops tanae — SPAWLS et al. 2023 |
Distribution | NE Kenya (Tana River, Coast Region), S Ethiopia, S Somalia, 0-400 m elevation.
Type locality: village of Ngatana ca. one mile northwest from new village of Wema, in the lower Tana River, Coast Region, Kenya (02°30’S, 40°15’E, elevation 50 m).
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Reproduction | oviparous |
Types | Holotype: MCZ 40099, a male, collected by A. Loveridge, 14–21 June 1934. |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Leptotyphlops tanae differs from all East African members of the L. cairi complex in its low counts for middorsals (227–260) and subcaudals (25–30) and its very small size. Skull with a large frontoparietal foramen like L. cairi. (Broadley & Wallach 2007)
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Comment | Habitat: Termite mound at edge of rice swamp and within six inches of the surface of black cotton soil forming banks in flooded rice fields (Loveridge, 1936).
Synonymy: Indotyphlops tanae should be in the genus Myriopholis as it is a member of the longicaudus species group (V. Wallach, pers. comm. 14 Dec 2017). |
Etymology | Named for the lower Tana River, where the type locality is situated. |
References |
- Adalsteinsson, S.A.; Branch, W.R.; Trapé, S.; Vitt, L.J. & Hedges, S.B. 2009. Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the Family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata). Zootaxa 2244: 1-50 - 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, Donald G. & Wallach, V. 2007. A revision of the genus Leptotyphlops in northeastern Africa and southwestern Arabia (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae). Zootaxa 1408: 1–78 - get paper here
- Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248
- Hedges, S.B., Marion, A.B., Lipp, K.M., Marin, J. & Vidal, N. 2014. A taxonomic framework for typhlopid snakes from the Caribbean and other regions (Reptilia, Squamata). Caribbean Herpetology 49: 1–61 - get paper here
- Hoevers, L.G.; Johnson, P.M. 1982. Notes on a Collection of Snakes from the middle Juba Region, Somalia. Moni. Zool. Ital. Jour. Zool. Suppl. 16 8: 173-203 - get paper here
- Largen, M.J.; Spawls, S. 2010. Amphibians and Reptiles of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 694 pp.
- Loveridge,A. 1936. Scientific results of an expedition to rain forest regions in Eastern Africa. V. Reptiles. Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harvard 79 (5): 209-337 - get paper here
- Spawls, S. 1978. A checklist of the snakes of Kenya. East Afr. Natur. Hist. Soc. and Natl. Mus., Nairobi, J. no. 167 18 pp.
- Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
- Spawls, Stephen; Tomáš Mazuch & Abubakr Mohammad 2023. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of North-east Africa. Bloomsbury, 640 pp. - get paper here
- Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
- Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
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