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Zygaspis ferox BROADLEY & BROADLEY, 1997

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Higher TaxaAmphisbaenidae, Amphisbaenia, Lacertoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymZygaspis ferox BROADLEY & BROADLEY 1997
Amphisbaena quadrifrons capensis LOVERIDGE 1941: 387 (part.)
Amphisbaena quadrifrons capensis — FITZSIMONS 1943: 376 (part.)
Zygaspis quadrifrons SAIFF 1970: 113 (part.)
Zygaspis ferox — GANS 2005: 38
Zygaspis ferox — CONRADIE et al. 2019 
DistributionZimbabwe (Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts, Deysbrook Farm)

Type locality: Silverstreams Estate, Chimanimani District, Zimbabwe.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: NMZB UM 8974, Paratype: PEM R10369 (formerly AMG 7764) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: The thing that first drew attention to this taxon was its large size and aggressive behaviour. This is reflected in its relatively massive skull, laterally expanded posteriorly and with humps on the fronto-parietal sutures and midway along the well developed saggital crest. It has lower counts of body and caudal annuli than adjacent populations of Z. quadrifrons and it differs from Z. nigra and the Z. violacea group in always having six or seven shields in the temporal region. It differs from Z. kafuensis in lacking a blind nasal sulcus and in having 34-40 segments in a midbody annulus rather than 24-36, Z. dolichomenta has only 28-32. In the latter species the tail represents more than 15% of total length, whereas it is less than 15% in Z. ferox. (BROADLEY & BROADLEY 1997)


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Comment 
EtymologyNamed after the Latin “ferox” = fierce, referring to the agressive behaviour of this animal when handled. 
References
  • Broadley, Donald G. & Broadley, Sheila 1997. A revision of the African genus Zygaspis Cope (Reptilia: Amphisbaenia). Syntarsus 4: 1-24
  • CONRADIE, WERNER; WILLIAM R. BRANCH, & GILLIAN WATSON 2019. Type specimens in the Port Elizabeth Museum, South Africa, including the historically important Albany Museum collection. Part 2: Reptiles (Squamata). Zootaxa 4576 (1): 001–045 - 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
 
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