Myriopholis Hedges, Adalsteinsson, & Branch

Adalsteinsson, Solny A., Branch, William R., Trape, Sébastien, Vitt, Laurie J. & Hedges, S. Blair, 2009, Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the Family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata), Zootaxa 2244, pp. 1-50 : 28

Genus Myriopholis Hedges, Adalsteinsson, & Branch , New Genus

Ramphostoma Jan in Jan and Sordelli, 1860. Type species Stenostoma macrorhynchum Jan, 1860 , by monotypy. [Preoccupied by Ramphostoma Wagler (1830: 353) as corrected from Rhamphostoma by Wagler (1830: 141): Crocodilia.]

Rhamphostoma Boulenger, 1893: 59 . [Replacement name for Ramphostoma Jan, 1861 . Preoccupied by Rhamphostoma Agassiz, 1847 , an unjustified emendation of Ramphostoma Wagler, 1830 : Crocodilia.]

Type species. Stenostoma longicaudum Peters, 1854:621 .

Diagnosis. Species of Myriopholini and Myriopholis have 14 midbody scale rows, 10–12 midtail scale rows, 165–558 middorsal scale rows, 25–58 subcaudals, two supralabials (three in M. dissimilis ), a small anterior supralabial (moderate in M. narirostris ), 103–293 mm maximum adult total length, a body shape of 27–138 (total length/width), a relative tail length of 5.7–18.9 %, a tail shape of 5.0–11.7, no striped pattern, and usually a pale brown dorsum and white venter (Table 2). Members of this genus and tribe can be distinguished from the two other tribes in the subfamily Leptotyphlopinae by the presence of a higher average number of middorsal scales (165–558 versus 171–387) and subcaudals (25–58 versus 12–44). Also, members of the tribe usually have a white venter and semilunate cloacal shield whereas members of the Tribe Leptotyphlopini usually have a brown or pale brown venter and a heart-shaped or subtriangular cloacal shield (see fig. 2 in Broadley & Wallach, 2007). Members of the Tribe Myriopholini also can be distinguished from the Tribe Epacrophini by the presence of a small anterior supralabial (moderate in size in Epacrophini ). The support for this group was 100% BP and 100% PP for the four-gene tree ( Fig. 3) and 100% BP and 100% PP for the nine-gene tree ( Fig. 4).

Content. One genus and 24 species ( Table 1; Fig. 9).

Distribution. The tribe (and genus) is distributed throughout Africa (north and south of the Sahara Desert), the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra Island, and in southwest Asia ( Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and northwest India). Most species are distributed in the northern portion of sub-Saharan Africa, including West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa ( Fig. 11).

Etymology. The generic name is feminine and derived from the Greek adjective myrios (many, countless) and Greek noun pholis (scale), in allusion to the high number of middorsal and subcaudal scales typical of species in this genus.

Remarks. This tribe comprises the former longicaudus Group of " Leptotyphlops , " most recently discussed and defined by Broadley and Wallach (2007). Those authors were unable to allocate the species " L. " dissimilis to a species group; it is known only from a single specimen now destroyed. We tentatively place it here in Myriopholis because it agrees with other species in that genus in number of subcaudals (29–30), relative tail length (8.7), body shape (42; low but consistent with a small individual), and midtail scales (10) ( Bocage 1886). The presence of three supralabials sets it apart, but it is possible that it represents a derived or arberrant condition within the genus. Also, the locality ( Sudan) is consistent with being a member of Myriopholis . McDiarmid et al. (1999) recognized “ L.” hamulirostris as a distinct species but we follow Hahn & Wallach (1998) in placing that name in the synonymy of Myriopholis macrorhyncha . Rösler & Wranik (2006) discussed the four species isolated on Socotra Island: Myriopholis wilsoni , M. filiformis , M. macrura , and M. sp. They are provisionally assigned to Myriopholis , although their isolation on this Gondwana fragment may indicate deeper divergence.

The lower bound (103 mm) of the maximum adult total length in Myriopholis corresponds to M. tanae , known only from adult males, which are always smaller than females among leptotyphlopids, and considerably so among species in the subfamily Leptotyphlopinae ( Hedges 2008) . Also, the single known specimens of M. yemenicus (91 mm, total length) and M. dissimilis (104 mm, total length) are not known to be adults. Aside from these three species, the next smallest species of Myriopholis is M. albiventer (128 mm maximum adult total length).