Letheobia toritensis, Wallach, Van, 2007

Wallach, Van, 2007, A review of East and Central African species of Letheobia Cope, revived from the synonymy of Rhinotyphlops Fitzinger, with descriptions of five new species (Serpentes: Typhlopidae), Zootaxa 1515, pp. 31-68 : 47-48

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.177278

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6237814

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B587D9-FF85-3802-90A8-FAE2F7D1FDBF

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Letheobia toritensis
status

sp. nov.

Letheobia toritensis sp. nov.

( Fig 4 View FIGURE 4 C)

Torit gracile blind-snake

Typhlops pallidus – (not Cope) Loveridge 1956: 6.

Rhinotyphlops pallidus – (not Cope) Roux-Estève 1974: 217 (part).

Holotype. MCZ 53324, a female from Torit, Equatoria Province, Sudan (04°27'N, 32°31'E, elevation 625 m), collected by J. S. Owen, 19 June 1950.

Paratypes. MCZ 53325-29, 16045-48; FMNH; MCZ 53332 Lokwi, 40 km south of Torit, collected 23 November 1950.

Diagnosis. A member of the Letheobia pallida complex, but differing in its greater length (maximum length 270 mm vs 192 mm in L. pallida ) and more slender build (length/diameter ratio 62–82 vs 49–62 in L. pallida and L. swahilica ); blunt snout, with a broader, subrectangular rostral; frontal transversely enlarged; more numerous middorsals (427–487 vs 376–433) and vertebrae (280–303 vs 235–274). There are also differences in visceral arrangement ( Table 4 View TABLE 4 ).

Description (paratype variations in parentheses). Snout rounded, prominent. Rostral very broad, truncated posteriorly; frontal subhexagonal; supraocular transverse, its lateral apex between nasal and ocular, the latter separated from the labials by a large subocular; eye not visible; nasal sulcus arising from second labial; SIP X (N1, P, O O); scale rows 26-22-22 (or 24-22-22, 26-22-20, rarely 26-24-22; MD 473 (427–487); vertebrae 297 (280–303); MD/V ratio 1.59 (1.49–1.64); L/D ratio 62–90. Colourless.

Etymology. Named for Torit, the type locality.

Size. Largest specimen ( Loveridge 1956) 267.5 mm in total length.

Habitat. Gallery forest. Found 30 cm below the surface and ”dug from rich humus among the buttress roots of a dozen great trees along the [Kineti] river” (Loveridge 1955).

Distribution. Southern Sudan (Equatoria Province), 625–1200 m ( Figs. 10 View FIGURE 10 , 11 View FIGURE 11 & 13 View FIGURE 13 ).

MCZ

Museum of Comparative Zoology

FMNH

Field Museum of Natural History

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Typhlopidae

Genus

Letheobia

Loc

Letheobia toritensis

Wallach, Van 2007
2007
Loc

Rhinotyphlops pallidus

Roux-Esteve 1974: 217
1974
Loc

Typhlops pallidus

Loveridge 1956: 6
1956
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