Afrotyphlops schmidti (Laurent)

Broadley, Donald G. & Wallach, Van, 2009, 2255, Zootaxa 2255, pp. 1-100 : 43

Afrotyphlops schmidti (Laurent)

( Fig. 7C)

Schmidt’s blind-snake

Typhlops boulengeri — (not Bocage) Witte, 1953: 138 (part).

Typhlops punctatus punctatus — (not Leach) Witte, 1953: 139 (part, Lukuga); Hellmich, 1957: 70; Laurent, 1964a: 89.

Typhlops schmidti Laurent, 1956a , Ann. Mus. Roy. Congo Belge, Zool., 48: 71, figs. 9–10, pl. 8, fig. 4. Type locality: “Nyunzu, Terr. D’Albertville, Tanganika” [= Democratic Republic of the Congo] (5.950°S, 28.017°E, elevation 700 m), holotype MRAC 17996, collected 11–14 December 1950; Broadley, 1961: 3; Johnsen, 1962: 116; Witte, 1962: 40; Laurent, 1960b: 439, 1964a: 89, 1965: 14; Roux-Estève, 1974: 80; Wallach, 1993b: 33, 1998a: 183, 1998b: 435; Mattison, 1999: 148; Murphy, 2003: 553; Brogard, 2005: 115.

Typhlops punctatus — (not Leach) Vesey-FitzGerald, 1958: 33.

Typhlops punctatus ? punctatus— Broadley & Pitman, 1960: 438.

Typhlops schmidti schmidti — Laurent, 1964b: 417; Broadley, 1971: 69; Hahn, 1977: 37; Wallach, 1998b: 436.

Typhlops schmidti wilsoni Laurent, 1968 , Arnoldia ( Rhodesia) 3(31): 2. Type locality: “Mkanda, Eastern Province, Zambia,” (13.417°S, 32.833°E, elevation 1165 m), holotype UM 9444, collected by V.J. Wilson, 17 February 1964 (preoccupied by Typhlops wilsoni Wall, 1908 , of Iran); Broadley, 1971: 70; Roux-Estève, 1974: 80; Hahn, 1977: 37, 1980: 62; Wallach, 1998b: 437.

Typhlops lineolatus lineolatus — Roux-Estève, 1974: 80 (part); Hahn, 1980: 62 (part).

Rhinotyphlops schmidti — Broadley & Wallach, 2000: 167; Broadley et al., 2003: 42; Broadley & Cotterill, 2004: 44.

Rhinotyphlops schmidti laurenti Wallach, 2003: 237 (replacement name for Typhlops schmidti wilsoni Laurent, 1968 ).

Typhlops schmidti laurenti — Wallach, 2003: 240.

Description. Snout rounded, prominent. Rostral broad, threequarters the width of the head, truncated posteriorly; frontal subtrapezoidal; supraocular oblique, its lateral apex between nasal and preocular; eye behind the anterior border of the ocular; nasal sulcus arising from first labial; SIP T-X (N2, P, O, O), rarely II-O; MSR 22–26, reduction A/B 2 to 4, B/C 2 to 4; MD 317–374 (mean 346.1, n = 43); vertebrae 188–212 (mean 196.2, n = 25); MD/V ratio 1.66–1.85 (mean 1.75, n = 25); L/D ratio 22–49 (mean 33.2, n = 29). Dorsum dark brown to black, each scale yellow apically, venter usually immaculate, but dorsal pigmentation extends ventrally in material from eastern Zambia = A. s. laurenti (Wallach) . Largest specimen (SAM 43706— Zambia) has a total length of 605 mm.

Distribution. Eastern Angola, southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and northern Zambia, 585–1655 m ( Fig. 14).

Localities. ANGOLA. Cazombo & Lake Calundo ( Laurent, 1964b). DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (Katanga Province). Bukena IRSNB 4001 B–D; Kabila MRAC 18000 (paratype of Typhlops schmidti Laurent ); Kalombo IRSNB 3225; Kamina MRAC 15803 (paratype of Typhlops schmidti Laurent ); Kanzenze IRSNB 3970, 3972–74; Kasenga IRSNB 3980; Lomami MRAC 3061, 3072–24, 3078; Lukaga River (Laurent, 1956); Lubumbashi IRSNB 3991; MRAC 9379; Lukonzolwa IRSNB 3987; Makala IRSNB 3988; Mpala IRSNB 3983; Nyunzu MRAC 17996 (holotype of Typhlops schmidti Laurent ), 17997–99 (paratypes of Typhlops schmidti Laurent ); Sandoa MCZ 57462 (paratype of Typhlops schmidti Laurent ), MRAC 2148, 7891, 7896, 7922–24, 7943, 8263, 8619–21, 9882; Upemba National Park IRSNB 3970, 3997–99. ZAMBIA. No precise locality IRSNB 11899; SAM 43706; Abercorn (Mbala) MCZ 55479–80; Chipangali NMZB-UM 9445 (paratype of Typhlops schmidti wilsoni Laurent ); Hillwood Farm, Ikelenge NMZB 10530– 31, 10650, 10692; Ikelenge NMZB 10712; NMZB-UM 8337; Kabompo NMZB 4968; Kalabo NMZB-UM 6906; Kasempa KM 265; Lealui NMHN 1917–18; Liuwa Plain FMNH 133036; Lusongwa River, Kabompo NMZB 38; Mbala BMNH 1959.1.1.93–94, 1959.1.5.44; IRSNB 18284; MCZ 55479–80; Mbala to Mweru Wantipa IRSNB 15967; Mkanda NMZB-UM 9442–43 (paratypes) & 9444 (holotype of Typhlops schmidti wilsoni Laurent ); Mukupa IRSNB 4006; Ndola ZMUC 5215; Solwezi NMZB-UM 8336.