Liotyphlops

Liotyphlops
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Anomalepididae
Genus: Liotyphlops
W. Peters, 1881
Synonyms
  • Rhinotyphlops (W. Peters, 1857)
    * Liotyphlops (W. Peters, 1881)[1]

Liotyphlops is a genus of blind snakes in the family Anomalepididae. The genus is native to Central America and South America. Currently, 12 species are recognized as valid.[2][3]

Geographic range

Species of Liotyphlops occur in Central America and South America, from Costa Rica southward to Paraguay.[1]

Taxonomy

Head scutellation characters are important for the identification of Liotyphlops species based on external morphology. The genus is characterized by fossorial and cryptozooic habits and is primarily nocturnal.

Species

The following species are recognized as valid within the genus Liotyphlops.[2][1]

Species Taxon author Common name Geographic range
Liotyphlops albirostris T (W. Peters, 1857) Southern Central America (including Costa Rica and Panama) and northern South America (Colombia, Ecuador, and north-central Venezuela). Also found on Curaçao.
Liotyphlops anops (Cope, 1899) Colombia (departments of Meta, Santander, and Cundinamarca).
Liotyphlops argaleus Dixon & Kofron, 1984 Colombia (Cundinamarca Department).
Liotyphlops bondensis (Griffin, 1916) Armando’s blindsnake Colombia
Liotyphlops caissara Centeno, Sawaya & Germano, 2010 Brazil
Liotyphlops haadi Silva-Haad, Franco & Maldonado, 2008 Colombia
Liotyphlops palauophis Marra Santos, 2023 Colombia
Liotyphlops schubarti Vanzolini, 1948 Brazil (Pirassununga, São Paulo).
Liotyphlops taylori Marra-Santos & Reis, 2018 Brazil (Mato Grosso).
Liotyphlops ternetzii (Boulenger, 1896) Brazil (Pará, Goiás, São Paulo, and Mato Grosso), Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Liotyphlops trefauti Freire, Caramasche & Suzart Argôlo, 2007 Brazil
Liotyphlops wilderi (Garman, 1883) Brazil (Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro).

T = Type species[1]

Nota bene: A taxon author in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Liotyphlops.

References

  1. ^ a b c d McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, D.C.: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series), ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. ^ a b "Liotyphlops". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  3. ^ Genus Liotyphlops at The Reptile Database – The Reptile Database.

Further reading

  • Peters W (1881). "Einige herpetologische Mittheilungen. 1. Uebersicht der zu den Familien der Typhlopes und Stenostomi gehörigen Gattungen oder Untergattungen". Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1881 (4): 69–71. (Liotyphlops, new genus, p. 69). (in German).
  • Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Genus Liotyphlops, pp. 84, 86 + drawing of head scalation on p. 84).
  • Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Genus Liotyphlops, p. 311).