Fornasini's blind snake

Fornasini's blind snake (Afrotyphlops fornasinii) is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae.[1][2][3] The species is endemic to southern Africa.[4]

Fornasini's blind snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Typhlopidae
Genus: Afrotyphlops
Species:
A. fornasinii
Binomial name
Afrotyphlops fornasinii
Bianconi, 1849
Synonyms[1]
  • Typhlops fornasinii
    Bianconi, 1849
  • Onychocephalus trilobus
    W. Peters, 1854
  • Onychocephalus mossambicus
    W. Peters 1854
  • Onychocephalus tettensis
    W. Peters, 1860
  • Typhlops bianconii
    Jan in Jan & Sordelli, 1860
  • Typhlops fornasinii
    — Boulenger, 1893
  • Afrotyphlops fornasinii
    — Broadley & Wallach, 2009

Etymology

The specific name fornasinii is in honor of Carlo Antonio Fornasini, merchant and amateur naturalist from Bologna, Italy, who collected the type specimen in Mozambique.[5] (He should not be confused with Carlo Fornasini (1854–1931), Italian paleontologist and politician.)

Geographic range

Fornasini's blind snake has been found in southern Mozambique, South Africa (Zululand), and southeastern Zimbabwe.[1][4]

Description

Typhlops fornasinii is completely gray or black, except for some yellowish on the throat and the ventral surface of the tail. Adults may attain a snout-vent length (SVL) of 18 cm (7 inches). The scales are arranged in 22–27 rows around the body. There are fewer than 300 scales in the vertebral row.[4]

Snout very prominent, rounded, somewhat flattened, with trilobate horizontal outline. Rostral large, about half the width of the head, portion visible from above almost as long as broad. Nostrils located ventrally. Nasal incompletely divided. Nasal cleft proceeding from the first upper labial. Scales on upper surface of head enlarged. A preocular present, in contact with the second upper labial. Preocular slightly narrower than the nasal or the ocular. Eyes barely distinguishable. Four upper labials. Diameter of body 23 to 30 times in the total length. Tail short, slightly broader than long, ending in a spine.[6]

Habitat

A very small snake, T. fornasinii prefers grasslands and coastal bush.[4]

gollark: How come you can't accept that mysterious hatchling?
gollark: I... why?
gollark: Someone just put up a trade offer for a spitfire on my copper genderswap trade.
gollark: I only have CB ones growing up now.
gollark: Gaaaaah. I haven't gotten a single female copper out of 5.

References
  1. Afrotyphlops fornasinii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 9 March 2017.
  2. "Typhlops ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  3. McDiarmid, Roy W.; Campbell, Jonathan A.; Touré, T'Shaka A. (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp.
  4. Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Typhlops fornasinii, p. 54 + Plate 40).
  5. Bianconi, G. Giuseppe (26 April 1849). "Alcune nuove specie di rettili del Mozambico". Nuovi Annali delle Scienze Naturali. 2 (in Italian). Bologna. 10: 106.
  6. Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families Typhlopidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Typhlops fornasinii, pp. 38-39).
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