Xerotyphlops etheridgei (WALLACH, 2002)
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Xerotyphlops etheridgei?
Xerotyphlops etheridgei
We have no photos, try to find some by Google images search: 
| Higher Taxa | Typhlopidae (Asiatyphlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Typhlops etheridgei WALLACH 2002 Xerotyphlops etheridgei — HEDGES et al. 2014 Typhlops etheridgei — WALLACH et al. 2014: 762 |
| Distribution | Mauritania Type locality:- Between Atar (20°31’N, 13°03’W) and Choûm (21°20’N, 12°59’W) along Route Nationale 1, a distance of ca. 85 air km through the Amsâga region, western Adrar Region, west-central Mauritania, elevation ca. 200 m. Original label reads “zwischen Atar und Shoun, Mauritanie”. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: MHNG 1326.62 (field no. E. Kramer 11443), an adult female collected by J. Garzoni, 1967 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Typhlops etheridgei can be distinguished from all other African Typhlopidae by the following combination of characters: T-III supralabial imbrication pattern (SIP) and 24 midbody scale rows. Typhlops etheridgei is separable from Rhinotyphlops by the T-III SIP (vs. T-0 or T-II), from Acutotyphlops by the 24 midbody scale rows (vs. 26-36) and rounded snout (vs. pointed snout), from Cyclotyphlops by its typical head shields (vs. circular arrangement), and from Xenotyphlops by the T-III SIP (vs. T-0) and papillaless rounded snout (vs. pointed snout with papillae). Typhlops etheridgei shares the T-III SIP with Ramphotyphlops and because it is represented solely by a female specimen, the status of the hemipenis cannot be ascertained. However, it is unlikely that T. etheridgei belongs in the genus Ramphotyphlops as the only African representative is R. braminus, the parthenogenetic species that has colonized the world. Typhlops etheridgei can be distinguished from R. braminus by the infranasal suture contacting the second supralabial (vs. preocular) and 24 midbody scale rows (vs. 20 rows). |
| Comment | Not listed in TRAPE & MANÉ 2006. |
| Etymology | This species is dedicated to Richard Emmett Etheridge (16 Sep 1929-14 Jan 2019), American herpetologist and emeritus professor at San Diego State University and iguanid systematist, who was the undergraduate mentor of Van Wallach and whose guidance and support started him on his present path in herpetology (snake viscera and systematics). See Espinoza & Queiroz for biographical details. |
| References |
|
| External links |