Rhinotyphlops lalandei (SCHLEGEL, 1839)
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Rhinotyphlops lalandei
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| Higher Taxa | Typhlopidae (Afrotyphlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Delalande's Beaked Blind Snake |
| Synonym | Typhlops Lalandei SCHLEGEL 1839: 38 Rhinotyphlops lalandei — FITZINGER 1843: 24 Onychocephalus delalandii DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1844: 273 (Emendation) Onychophis franklinii GRAY 1845: 132 Onychophis fordii GRAY 1845: 134 Onychophis lalandeii — GRAY 1845 Typhlops smithi Jan, in JAN & SORDELLI 1860 Typhlops Lalandei — JAN 1864 Typhlops lalandei paucisquamosa BOETTGER 1883 Typhlops (Onychocephalus) delalandei — BOETTGER 1887: 154 Typhlops delalandii — BOULENGER 1887: 173 Typhlops delalandii — BOULENGER 1893: 45 Typhlops delalandei var. paucisquamata BOETTGER 1898: 5 (error typographicus) Typhlops delalandii — FITZSIMONS 1966 Rhinotyphlops lalandei — ROUX-ESTÈVE 1974: 158 Typhlops lalandei — AUERBACH 1987: 145 Rhinotyphlops lalandei — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 81 Rhinotyphlops lalandei — BROADLEY & WALLACH 2009 Rhinotyphlops lalandei — HEDGES et al. 2014 Rhinotyphlops lalandei — WALLACH et al. 2014: 654 Rhinotyphlops lalandei — SCHLEICHER 2020 |
| Distribution | Republic of South Africa, SW Zimbabwe, Mozambique, E Botswana, Namibia ? Type locality: “Vorgebirge der guten Hoffnung” [= Cape of Good Hope, South Africa]. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Syntypes: MNHN-RA 1492, MNHN-RA 3214 and MNHN-RA 3214A, MNHN-RA 6992 and MNHN-RA 6992A, RMNH 3715A–B, collected by Lalande and Van Horstolk |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus). Species of Rhinotyphlops have (1) eye, distinct, (2) snout, beaked (rarely rounded), (3) head scale arrangement, non-circular, (4) frontorostral, absent, (5) nasal, completely or incompletely divided, (6) nasal suture origin, 2nd supralabial (sometimes 1st supralabial), (7) suboculars or subpreoculars, absent (sometimes present), (8) postoculars, 4–6 (rarely 2–3; average 4.21), (9) preocular-labial contact, supralabials 2 & 3 (sometimes 2nd or 2–4), (10) midbody scale rows, 22–34 (average, 25.0), (11) scale row reduction, present (sometimes absent), (12) total scale rows, 311–586 (average, 425), (13) caudals, 14–15 (average, 14.5), (14) maximum total length, 220– 455 (average, 323) mm, (15) total length/midbody diameter, 27–77 (average, 48.9), (16) total length/tail length, 50.2–78.5 (average, 65.0), (17) dorsal color, brown (sometimes yellowish, greenish, or reddish), (18) ventral color, white or yellowish (sometimes brownish or black), (19) dorsum darker than venter, (20) overall, either patternless or with longitudinal lines (Tables 1–2); molecular phylogenetic support (Fig. 1 in HEDGES et al. 2014). From Letheobia, Rhinotyphlops is distinguished by having a distinct eye (versus indistinct), lacking subocular scales (versus present), having a higher average number of midbody scale rows (25.0 versus 22.3), having a higher average number of caudals (14.5 versus 11.1), and having a dark (versus pale) dorsum. From Afrotyphlops, Rhinotyphlops is distinguished by having more caudals (14.5 versus 9.6) and smaller size (323 versus 481 mm average TL). [HEDGES et al. 2014: 31] For an alternative diagnosis see PYRON & WALLACH 2014: 48. |
| Comment | Description in BROADLEY & WALLACH 2009. Type species: Typhlops lalandei Schlegel 1839:38 is the type species of the genus Rhinotyphlops Fitzinger 1843. Type species: Typhlops Lalandei SCHLEGEL 1839: 38 is the type species of the genus Rhinotyphlops FITZINGER 1843. Morphology: for morphological data across the species in this genus see Pyron & Wallach 2014: Table 2. |
| Etymology | The genus name is a masculine noun formed from the Greek adjective rhinos (beaked) and Greek noun typhlops (the blind), in reference to the beak-shaped snout of these blindsnakes. |
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