Megatyphlops brevis (Scortecci)

Broadley, Donald G. & Wallach, Van, 2009, 2255, Zootaxa 2255, pp. 1-100 : 56-57

Megatyphlops brevis (Scortecci)

( Fig. 10A)

Somali giant blind-snake

Typhlops schlegelii — (not Bianconi) Boulenger, 1893: 44 (Lado), 1896: 588 (Laikipia); Werner, 1908: 1863, Hobley, 1912: 45.

Typhlops mucruso — (not Peters) Sternfeld, 1908a: 239, 1908b: 242.

Typhlops brevis Scortecci, 1929 , Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Milano, 68(3–4): 267, 3 figs. Type locality: “Chisimajo, Somalia Italiana ” [= Kismayu, Gobolka Jubbada Hoose, Somalia], (0.367°S, 42.533°E, elevation NSL), holotype MSNM 748 (formerly MSNM 2033), collected by Luppi, 25 January 1926; Guibé in Pitman, 1974: 59; Largen & Rasmussen, 1993: 321; Wallach & Lanza, 2004: 82.

Typhlops schlegelii mucruso — Loveridge, 1933: 216 (part, Uganda & Lado Enclave).

Typhlops schlegeli brevis — Parker, 1949: 23.

Typhlops schlegeli mucroso (sic) — Parker. 1949: 23.

Typhlops schlegelii brevis — Loveridge, 1956a: 41, 1957b: 240; Pitman, 1974: 59; Branch, 1988a: 48.

Rhinotyphlops schlegelii brevis — Roux-Estève, 1974: 181, fig. 124, 1975a: 495; Hahn 1980: 34; Hoevers & Johnson, 1982: 182; Welch, 1982: 127, 1994: 57; Largen & Rasmussen, 1993: 321, Welch, 1982: 127, 1994: 57; Webb et al., 2001: 560; Areste & Cebrián, 2003: 43.

Rhinotyphlops schlegeli brevis — Langebartel, 1968: 11; Largen, 1978: 53, fig. 4; Hoevers & Johnson, 1982: 182; Lanza, 1983: 219, 1990: 430.

Rhinotyphlops schlegeli — Hughes, 1983: 354 (part).

Rhinotyphlops schlegelii — Meirte 1992: 19 (part); Largen & Rasmussen, 1993: 321; Mattison, 1999: 147 (part); McDiarmid et al. 1999: 84 (part); Murphy, 2003: 552 (part).

Typhlops mucroso (sic)— Largen & Rasmussen, 1993: 321.

Rhinotyphlops brevis — Spawls et al. 2002: 293, 2006: 92; Wallach & Lanza, 2004: 82.

Description. Snout prominent, with an acutely angular keratinised edge on rostral and nasals (less marked in juveniles); rostral very large, sagittate, bluntly pointed posteriorly, length/width ratio 1.29–1.41 (mean = 1.33); frontal small and lozenge-shaped; supraocular small and transverse, its lateral apex between preocular and ocular; eye distinct near anterior edge of ocular; nasal in contact with first and second labials, nasal suture arising from first ( Kenya) or second (elsewhere); SIP T-II or T-X (N1/2, P, O, O). MSR 29–38; MD 288–557 (mean 392.7, n = 50); vertebrae 190–250 (mean 203.4, n = 26); MD/V ratio 1.84–2.22 (mean 2.02, n = 26); L/ D ratio 17–38 (mean = 25.7, n = 25). Juveniles have a lineolate pattern above, adults become uniform greybrown above, unpigmented below. Largest specimen (BMNH 1949.2.1.10—Haud, Somalia) has a total length of 700 mm.

Distribution. Southern Sudan and adjacent Uganda, east through Ethiopia to Somalia, south to Kenya (but replaced on the coast by Megatyphlops mucruso ), 400–2000 m ( Fig. 15).

Localities. SUDAN. No precise locality FMNH 58313 , 62350–52 ; Idali FMNH 62357 ; Kapoeta FMNH 58311 ; Lado Enclave BMNH —; Torit FMNH 43432 , 48093–94 , 52900 , 58313 , 58352 , 62344–57 ; MCZ 53301–20 ; NMK 875 . UGANDA. BMNH —. ETHIOPIA. Harar MNHN 1901.473 ; Moullou River MNHN 1905.177 ; Neghelli AAU H.401; Tendaho AAU H.80. SOMALIA. No precise locality MZUF 5381 ; “ British Somaliland ” BMNH 1931.6.11.1; Afmadu NHCL 1624 ; Chisimaio MSNM 748 (holotype of Typhlops brevis Scortecci ); MZUF 5381 ; Gardo, Migiurtinia MZUF 2590 ; Giohar MZUF 5381 , 5952 ; Hargeisa BMNH 1949.2.1.5; Haud at 8°24"N, 45°48"E BMNH 1949.2.1.7–10; MCZ 51296 ; Haud at 8°26'N, 45°43'E BMNH 1949.2.1.11; Mareri, Juba Sugar Project CAS-LGH 696; Merca MZUF 1082 ; NHCL 1533 ; NHCL 1533 . KENYA. Kakamega NMK 2402 ; Kiasigo NMK 3321 ; Kitui District NMK 1137 ; Kora NMZB 16712 ; Ngomeni NMK 2275 ; Ngulia Lodge, Tsavo National Park West NMK 2725 ; Tambach CAS 147886 .