Leptotyphlops Fitzinger, 1843

Marques, Mariana P., Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Blackburn, David C. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2018, Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840 - 2017), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65, pp. 1-501 : 299-301

Genus Leptotyphlops Fitzinger, 1843

Leptotyphlops kafubi (Boulenger, 1919) SHABA THREAD SNAKE

Glauconia kafubi Boulenger 1919b:186 . Syntypes: BMNH 1946.1.11.7–8, formerly BMNH 1919.8.26.13–14, MRAC 2085 (collector L. Stappers). Type locality: “la rivière Kafuboo, à Élisabethville” [= Kafubu River , Lubumbashi, Haut-Katanga Province (formerly Katanga Province)], Democratic Republic of Congo.

Leptotyphlops emini emini (part): Laurent (1964a:91). Leptotyphlops nigricans nigricans (part): Broadley and Watson (1976:490).

Leptotyphlops nigricans (part): McDiarmid et al. (1999:39).

Leptotyphlops kafubi : Broadley and Broadley (1999:18), Broadley and Wallach (2007b:11), Wallach et al. (2014:368).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Not Evaluated.

Global distribution: The species is known from southeastern Africa, from eastern Angola, the former Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo to Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Ocurrences in Angola (Map 260): The species has been recorded from eastern Angola. Moxico: “environs du lac Calundo”

[-11.80000, 20.86667] ( Laurent 1964a:91;

Broadley and Watson 1976:490; Broadley and

Broadley 1999:18); “Chutes de la Luisavo,

Cabinda, Haut Zambèze ” [-11.86667,

23.58333] ( Laurent 1964a:91; Broadley and

Watson 1976:490; Broadley and Broadley

1999:18).

Taxonomic and distributional notes:

Broadley and Watson (1976) provided a map with the Angolan records from Laurent

(1964a) assigned to Leptotyphlops nigricans

(Schlegel, 1839). They described the species range of L. nigricans as discontinuous, with the nominate population occurring in the southern Cape Province (now Western and MAP 260. Distribution of Leptotyphlops kafubi in Angola.

Eastern Cape provinces, South Africa), with a small group of locality records in the central portion of the former Transvaal Province separated by a wide gap from the remainder of the distribution, which extends north from central Zambia through eastern Angola to Uganda and South Sudan (Broadley and Watson 1976). Broadley and Broadley (1999) formally diagnosed the L. nigricans group, including the southern African species L. jacobseni Broadley and Broadley, 1999 , L. kafubi (Boulenger, 1919) and L. nigricans . They also restricted L. nigricans to the southern Cape provinces of South Africa and used L. kafubi as a new combination and attributed to it the Angolan records previously assigned to Leptotyphlops emini emini .

Leptotyphlops scutifrons ( Peters, 1854) PETERS’ THREAD SNAKE Stenostoma scutifrons Peters 1854:621 . Holotype: ZMB 4826, lost fide Broadley and Watson (1976), Hahn

(1980) and Bauer et al. (1995, 2002) (collector W.C.H. Peters). Type locality: “Sena” ( Peters 1854:621),

[= Vila da Sena, Zambezi River], Mozambique. Stenostoma scutifrons (part): Peters (1865:261), Bocage (1873b:251, 1895a:71). Stenostoma nigricans (part): Bocage (1866a:46). Glauconia scutifrons (part): Ferreira (1904:114), Boulenger (1905:112, 1915:198), Monard (1937b:106). Leptotyphlops conjuncta distanti (part): Bogert (1940:13). Leptotyphlops scutifrons scutifrons (part): Broadley and Watson (1976:497), Broadley and Broadley

(1999:23). Leptotyphlops scutifrons (part): McDiarmid et al. (1999:41). Leptotyphlops scutifrons : Bates et al. (2014:321), Wallach et al. (2014:364). Leptotyphlops scutifrons complex: Conradie et al. (2016:23).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Not Evaluated.

Global distribution: The species is known from western and central Angola, across Zambia and Malawi to southern Tanzania and Mozambique, and south through Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe to Swaziland and KwaZulu-Natala and the Eastern Cape in South Africa.

Ocurrences in Angola (Map 261): The species occurs in western Angola. Malanje:

“ Duque de Bragança ” [-9.10000, 15.95000]

( Bocage 1866a:46; 1873b:251, 1895a:71;

Monard 1937b:106). Kwanza Norte: “Golungo Alto” [-9.13333, 14.76667] ( Ferreira

1903:114; Monard 1937b:106); “Zembe”

[-9.31667, 14.66667] ( Ferreira 1904:114;

Monard 1937b:106); “Cazengo” [-9.33333,

14.76667] ( Ferreira 1904:114; Monard

1937b:106). Bié: “Chitau” [-11.25000,

17.16667] ( Bogert 1940:13; Broadley and

Broadley 1999:26); “Cubango basin (13)”

[-13.28061, 16.74722] ( Conradie et al. 2016:8-

9, 23). Huambo: “Bimbi” [-11.81667,

15.83333] ( Monard 1937b:106). Benguela :

“Cahata” [-12.35000, 14.81667] ( Bocage

1895a:71; Monard 1937b:106); “Ebanga” MAP 261. Distribution of Leptotyphlops scutifrons in Angola.

[-12.73333, 14.73333] ( Monard 1937b:106).

Huíla: “Caconda” [-13.73333, 15.06667] ( Bocage 1895a:71; Monard 1937b:106); “Kuvangu” [-14.46667, 16.30000] ( Monard 1937b:106) “Kapelongo” [-14.88333, 15.08333] ( Monard 1937b:106); “Huilla (Huíla)” [-15.05000, 13.55000] ( Bocage 1895a:71; Monard 1937b:106).

Namibe: “Biballa (Bibala)” [-14.76667, 13.36667] ( Bocage 1873b:251, 1895a:71; Monard 1937b:106); “Capangombe” [-15.10000, 13.15000] ( Bocage 1895a:71; Monard 1937b:106). Taxonomic and distributional notes: Bauer et al. (1995) incorrectly regarded ZMB 5706 as a possible syntype. Adalsteinsson et al. (2009) recently identified numerous undescribed cryptic species within the L. scutifrons /incognitus/conjunctus complex that will require detailed analysis to stabilize the taxonomy of the group ( Bates et al. 2014). The generic map for Leptotyphlops provided by Adelsteinsson et al. (2009) shows no species in Angola except in far southeastern Cuando Cubango and in eastern Moxico. Some of the specimens referenced in the works cited above may be referable to Namibiana latifrons , so surviving material must be examined.