Moroccan worm lizard

The Moroccan worm lizard (Blanus mettetali ) is a species of amphisbaenian in the family Blanidae. The species is endemic to Morocco.[2]

Moroccan Worm Lizard

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Blanidae
Genus: Blanus
Species:
B. mettetali
Binomial name
Blanus mettetali
Bons, 1963
Synonyms
  • Blanus cinereus mettetali
    Bons, 1963
  • Blanus mettetali
    — Busack, 1988[1]

Etymology

The specific name, mettetali, is in honor of a Mr. Mettetal who was head of the Laboratory of Animal Biology, Faculty of Sciences of Morocco.[3]

Habitat

The natural habitats of B. mettetali are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, arable land, and pastureland.

Conservation status

B. mettetali is threatened by habitat loss.

References
  1. "Blanus mettetali ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  2. Busack, Stephen D. (1988). "Biochemical and Morphological Differentiation in Spanish and Moroccan Populations of Blanus and the Description of a New Species from Northern Morocco (Reptilia, Amphisbaenia, Amphisbaenidae)". Copeia. 1988 (1): 101–109. doi:10.2307/1445928. JSTOR 1445928.
  3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Blanus mettetali, p. 177).

Further reading
  • Bons, Jacques (1963). "Notes sur Blanus cinereus (Vandelli), description d'une sous-espèce Marocaine: Blanus cinereus mettetali ssp. nov." Bulletin de la Société des Sciences naturelles et physiques du Maroc (1-2): 95-107. (in French).

Phylogeographical patterns
  • Albert EM, Zardoya R, García-París M (2007). "Phylogeographical and speciation patterns in subterranean worm lizards of the genus Blanus (Amphisbaenia: Blanidae)". Molecular Ecology. 16 (7): 1519–1531. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03248.x. ISSN 0962-1083. PMID 17391273.
  • Vaconcelos, Raquel; Harris, D. James; Carretero, Miguel (2006). "Phylogeography of the genus Blanus (worm lizards) in Iberia and Morocco based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers — preliminary analysis". Amphibia-Reptilia. 27 (3): 339–346. doi:10.1163/156853806778190033. ISSN 0173-5373.


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