Leptotyphlops keniensis, Published, 2007

Published, First, 2007, A revision of the genus Leptotyphlops in northeastern Africa and southwestern Arabia (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae), Zootaxa 1408, pp. 1-78 : 38

Leptotyphlops keniensis sp. nov. ( Plate 10 , Fig. 3)

Mount Kenya worm snake

Glauconia nigricans — Angel, 1925: 31 (Naro Moru).

Leptotyphlops emini emini — Loveridge, 1957: 247 (part).

Leptotyphlops nigricans nigricans — Broadley & Howell, 1991: 22 (part).

Holotype. NMK /O. 2903, an adult female from Nyeri, Central Province , Kenya (00°25' S, 36°56' E, just below 2000 m), collected by F.J. McCartney, 24 February 1983.

Paratypes. MNHN 1923.120 near Naro Moru , Central Province, Kenya (00°10' S, 37°01' E, elevation 2000 m), collected by C. Alluaud & R. Jeannal , 12 February 1912 ; ZMUC / R. 531, Isiolo, Northern Province , Kenya (00°20' N, 37°36' E, elevation ca. 1250 m), collected by B. Benzon, 21 February 1935 .

Diagnosis. A member of the Leptotyphlops nigricans species group, distinguished from all other northern taxa except L. aethiopicus by its high middorsal counts (239–265), differing from the latter species in lacking a white patch below the tail tip.

Description. Body cylindrical, with head and neck broadened and flattened, the short tail tapers slightly before a blunt tail cone.

Snout rounded, rostral moderate (0.36 head width) and truncated, much wider than supranasals and extending to a line connecting centre of eyes, a preoral groove present ventrally. Behind rostral, upper lip bordered by infranasal (nostril midway between rostral and supralabial along nasal suture), small anterior supralabial that reaches level of nostril with width along lip equal to that of infranasal, large ocular with eye central in upper half, and tall posterior supralabial. Supraoculars pentagonal, slightly larger than the hexagonal frontal and postfrontal, which are slightly smaller than the interparietal and interoccipital. Parietals transverse, subequal to the fused occipitals with scalloped posterior border, in contact with the posterior supralabials. Temporal single. No mental.

Body covered with 14 rows of smooth, subimbricate, subequal scales. Reduction to 10 rows on the tail takes place lateral to the subtriangular cloacal shield. Total middorsals 239–265; subcaudals 20–26.

Total length/diameter ratio 47–70; total length/tail ratio 11–13.5.

Dorsum brown and venter light brown, all scales outlined in white, upper lip, anterior tip of chin, and cloacal shield white.

Size. Largest specimen (female holotype) 175 + 14 = 189 mm.

Habitat. Mosaic of East African evergreen bushland and secondary Acacia wooded grassland.

Distribution. Lower slopes of Mount Kenya and environs, Mount Kilimanjaro, 1250–2000 m ( Plate 5 ).

Other material. ZMB 22714 Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (Forster) .

Figures

PLATE 5. Leptotyphlops. Distribution of the Leptotyphlops parkeri, L. reticulatus, L. longicaudus and L. nigricans species groups in northeastern Africa and southwestern Arabia.

PLATE 10. Figure 1. Leptotyphlops monticolus. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of NMZB 15309 — Katare, Kivu, D.R.C. The line represents 1 mm to scale. Figure 2. Leptotyphlops mbanjensis sp. nov. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of the holotype, MCZ 48040 — Mbanja, Lindi District, Tanzania. The line represents 1 mm to scale. Figure 3. Leptotyphlops keniensis sp. nov. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of the holotype, NMK/O. 2903 — Nyeri, Kenya. The line represents 1 mm to scale. Figure 4. Leptotyphlops aethiopicus sp. nov. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of the holotype, BMNH 1911.12.13.17 — near Harer, Ethiopia. The line represents 1 mm to scale.