Rena humilis BAIRD & GIRARD, 1853
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Rena humilis
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| Higher Taxa | Leptotyphlopidae, Epictinae, Epictini, Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | Rena humilis cahuilae KLAUBER 1939 Rena humilis humilis (BAIRD & GIRARD 1853) Rena humilis utahensis TANNER 1938 |
| Common Names | E: Western Threadsnake cahuilae: Desert Blind Snake, Desert Threadsnake humilis: Southwestern Blind Snake/Threadsnake utahensis: Utah Blind Snake/Threadsnake G: Mexikanische Schlankblindschlange S: Culebrilla Lombriz del Suroeste |
| Synonym | Rena humilis BAIRD & GIRARD 1853: 143 Stenostoma humile — PETERS 1858 Catadon dugesii BOCOURT 1881 Catodon dugesii BOCOURT 1881 Siagonodon dugesii — BOCOURT 1882: 507 Rena dugesii — COPE 1887: 64 Glauconia humilis — BOULENGER 1893: 70 Rena humilis — VAN DENBURGH 1895: 136 Siagonodon humilis — VAN DENBURGH 1897 Leptotyphlops humilis — RUTHVEN 1907 Leptotyphlops humilis humilis — KLAUBER 1931 Leptotyphlops humilis slevini KLAUBER 1931 Leptotyphlops dugesii — TAYLOR 1940: 143 Leptotyphlops humilis dugesi — KLAUBER 1940 Leptotyphlops chumilis RHODES (error typographicus) 1966 Leptotyphlops humilis levitoni MURPHY 1975: 94 Leptotyphlops humilis lindsayi MURPHY 1975: 96 Leptotyphlops humilis levitoni — HAHN 1979 Leptotyphlops humilis lindsayi — HAHN 1979 Leptotyphlops humilis — STEBBINS 1985: 171 Leptotyphlops humilis dugesii — TANNER 1985: 623 Leptotyphlops humilis — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 32 Leptotyphlops humilis levitoni — LINER & CASAS-ANDREU 2008 Leptotyphlops humilis lindsayi — LINER & CASAS-ANDREU 2008 Rena humilis — ADALSTEINSSON, BRANCH, TRAPE, VITT & HEDGES 2009 Rena humilis — CROTHER et al. 2012 Rena humilis dugesii — REYES et al. 2014 Rena humilis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 632 Rena humilis — FLORES-VILLELA et al. 2022 Rena humilis cahuilae (KLAUBER 1939) Leptotyphlops humilis cahuilae KLAUBER 1931 (fide CROTHER 2000) Leptotyphlops humilis cahuilae — HAHN 1979 Leptotyphlops humilis cahuilae — CROTHER 2000: 65 Rena humilis cahuilae — CROTHER et al. 2012 Rena humilis humilis (BAIRD & GIRARD 1853) Rena humilis BAIRD & GIRARD 1853: 143 Leptotyphlops humilis humilis — CROTHER 2000: 65 Rena humilis utahensis TANNER 1938 Leptotyphlops humilis utahensis TANNER 1938 Leptotyphlops humilis utahensis — HAHN 1979 Leptotyphlops humilis utahensis — CROTHER 2000: 65 Rena humilis utahensis — CROTHER et al. 2012 Rena humilis utahensis — FLORES-VILLELA et al. 2022 |
| Distribution | USA (S California, S Nevada, S Arizona, S New Mexico, S Texas), Mexico (Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, N Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit) boettgeri (invalid): Mexico (Baja California Sur and Cerralvo Island); Type locality: unknown (fide HAHN 1980). cahuilae: SE California, SW Arizona; Mexico (Baja California); Yaqui Well, San Diego County, California, USA. chihuahuaensis: Mexico (Chihuahua); Type locality: 10.7 km (6.7 mi) NW of Ciudad Chihuahua (west of Highway 45). dugesii (invalid): Mexico (Sonora) humilis: USA (S California, S Nevada, Arizona); Mexico (N Baja California); Type locality: "Valliecitas", California, USA. levitoni (invalid): Mexico (Baja California: Isla Santa Catalina); Type locality: Isla Santa Catalina, Gulf of California, Mexico (26° 40' N., 110° 47' W.). lindsayi (invalid): Mexico (Baja California: Isla Carmen); Type locality: Isla Carmen, Gulf of California, Mexico (25° 57' N., 111° 12' W.). slevini (invalid): Baja California Cape region; Type locality: La Paz, Baja California. utahensis: SW Utah, SE Nevada. Type locality: Saint George, Washington County, Utah, USA. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: USNM 2101 (humilis) Holotype: SDNHM = SDSNH 2637 [cahuilae] Holotype: BYU 17000, adult male [chihuahuaensis] Holotype: CAS 135146 [levitoni] Holotype: SDNHM = SDSNH 44386 [lindsayi] Holotype: CAS 53721 [slevini] Holotype: BYU 662 [utahensis] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): Species of Rena have 14 midbody scale rows, 10 (12 rarely) midtail scale rows, 168–312 middorsal scale rows, 9–21 subcaudals, 2–3 supralabials, moderate or large (rarely small) anterior supralabials, 205–389 mm maximum adult total length, a body shape of 26–60 (total length/width), a relative tail length of 3.1–8.6 %, a tail shape of 1.9–3.8, no striped pattern, brown or purplish brown dorsal color, and white venter (Table 2 in ADALSTEINSSON et al. 2009). They also have a small supraocular scale. They are distinguished from the other genus in this subtribe, Tricheilostoma, by having a white (not brown or pale brown) venter, usually two supralabials (three in R. bressoni, R. dissecta, and R. myopica), and in having a higher number (on average) of middorsal scales (Table 2). The support for this group was 100% BP and 100% PP for the four-gene tree (Fig. 3); only one species was included in the nine-gene tree (Fig. 4). (from ADALSTEINSSON et al. 2009). DEFINITION. This is one of the largest species of the genus (maximum total length in L. h. cahuilae 389 mm). Supraoculars are absent, and a single supralabial is anterior to the ocular. Dorsal scale rows (vertebrals) number 210-308, subcaudals 12-21, and there are 10 or 12 rows arol1nd the tail. Five or seven of the dorsalmost scale rows are pigmented in various shades of brown. The mean of body length/diameter ranges from 41 to 63 in the 9 geographical races; mean of body length/tail length ranges from 19 to 25. (Hahn 1979) Diagnosis: L. humilis is distinguished from all other United States, Mexican and Central American species by the absence of supraoculars, the presence of a prefrontal, and nasals which do not extend posterior to the eye. (Hahn 1979) DIAGNOSIS (cahuilae). Differs from other races in having a combination of 12 scale rows around the tail, 5 lightly pigmented dorsalmost scale rows, more than 280 dorsals (280-305, x̅ = 295), and 16-21 (x̅ = 17.4) subcaudals. (Hahn 1979) DIAGNOSIS (levitoni). Differs from other races in having a combination of 12 scale rows around the tail, 7 to 9 pigmented dorsalmost scale rows, 249-250 dorsals, 14 subcaudals in both known specimens, and lower nasals not pigmented. (Hahn 1979) DIAGNOSIS (lindsayi). Differs from other races in having a combination of 12 scale rows around the tail, 7 to 9 pigmented dorsalmost scale rows, infralabials unpigmented in adults, lower nasals pigmented, 243 dorsals, and 14 subcaudals in the single specimen known. (Hahn 1979) DIAGNOSIS (utahensis). Differs from other races in having a combination of 12 scale rows around the tail, 7 to 9 pigmented dorsalmost scale rows, more than 280 dorsals (289-308, x = 300), 17-20 subcaudals (x = 18.0), fourth middorsal scale often divided longitudinally, and fifth dorsal much wider than sixth. (Hahn 1979) |
| Comment | Subspecies: Subspecific classification according to HAHN 1980 and LINER 1994. Leptotyphlops humilis tenuiculus is a synonym of Leptotyphlops dulcis iversoni fide Smith et al. 1998. Grismer (1999) synonymized Leptotyphlops humilis levitoni with Leptotyphlops humilis (and lindsayi as well, but “tentatively”). R. h. dugesii has been treated as valid species by some recent authors but that’s not universally accepted. Type species: Rena humilis BAIRD & GIRARD 1853 is the type species of the genus Rena BAIRD & GIRARD 1853. Synonymy: Kaiser et al. 2013 considered the generic name Evanwhittonus Hoser 2012 invalid and rejected its use instead of Rena. Wallach et al. 2014 listed all subspecies as synonyms. Distribution: Not listed for San Luis Potosí by Lemos-Espinal & Dixon 2013. Reports from Coahuila represent R. h. segregus, now a valid species. Not in Durango fide Lemos-Espinal (2018). Not in Sinaloa (Lemos-Espinal & Smith 2020). |
| Etymology | The Latin humilis means small, or ground-dwelling. The subspecies cahuilae is named in reference to Lake Cahuila near the type locality; utahensis was named after the state of Utah. The generic name is feminine and derived from the Latin noun ren (kidney), apparently in allusion to the kidney color (reddish brown) of the type species. |
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