Rhinotyphlops unitaeniatus

Rhinotyphlops unitaeniatus, commonly known as the yellow-striped blind snake or the Kenya beaked snake,[1] is a species of snake in the Typhlopidae family.[2][3] It is endemic to Africa.[1]

Rhinotyphlops unitaeniatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Typhlopidae
Genus: Rhinotyphlops
Species:
R. unitaeniatus
Binomial name
Rhinotyphlops unitaeniatus
(Peters, 1878)
Synonyms
  • Typhlops (Letheobia) unitaeniatus Peters, 1878
  • Typhlops unitæniatus
    - Boulenger, 1893
  • Rhinotyphlops unitaeniatus
    - Roux-Estève, 1974
  • Letheobia unitaeniata
    - Broadley & Wallach, 2007[1]

Geographic range

It is found in eastern Kenya, Somalia, and northeastern Tanzania.[1]

Description

Dorsum black, with a yellow vertebral stripe, which is three scale rows wide. Venter black. The lips, the ventral surface of the snout, and a stripe on the rostral are all brownish yellow.

Total length 37.5 cm (14 3⁄4 in).

Scales arranged in 25 rows around the body at midbody, in 27 rows anteriorly.

Snout very prominent, hooked, with a sharp horizontal edge, below which are located the nostrils. Rostral very large, extending posteriorly far beyond the eyes. Nasal extending over the eye, in contact with the small ocular. One preocular and one subocular. Eyes distinguishable. Four upper labials. Diameter of body 62 or 63 times in total length. Tail very short.[4]

Habitat

It prefers Acacia-Commiphora deciduous bushland and thicket, and can be found at elevations from 20 to 1,600 metres (66 to 5,249 ft).[1]

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References
  1. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  2. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  3. "Rhinotyphlops". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  4. Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families Typhlopidæ... Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). London. pp. 55-56.

Further reading
  • Peters, W. 1878. Über die von Hrn. J.M. Hildebrandt während seiner letzen ostafrikanischen Reise gesammelten Säugethiere und Amphibien. Monatsberichte der Königlich preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Volume 1878, pp. 194–209. [Typhlops (Letheobia) unitaeniatus, p. 205, plate ii, figure 5.]


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