Letheobia rufescens (Chabanaud)

(Fig 5 C)

Oubangui gracile blind-snake

Typhlops rufescens Chabanaud 1917, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, 22: 365, Figs. 4–6. Type locality: Congo français [= Haut-Oubangui, Central African Republic], collected by J. Rouchet de Chazotte, 1908, holotype MNHN 1916.262. Typhlops vrydaghi Laurent 1956, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr. 53: 249. Type locality: Bambesa-Takpwo, Bas-Uele, Congo [= Democratic Republic of Congo] (03°23’N, 25°47’E, elevation 650 m), holotype MRAC 11949; Laurent 1962: 43. Rhinotyphlops rufescens – Roux-Estève 1974: 230, Fig. 167, 1975: 445; Hahn 1980: 33; Joger 1990: 93, Fig. 5; Meirte 1992: 20; McDiarmid et al. 1999: 83.

Letheobia rufescens – Chirio & Ineich, 2006: 42.

Description. Snout with an angular horizontal edge. Rostral very broad, truncated posteriorly; frontal crescentic, just contacting nasals; supraocular transverse, its lateral apex wedged between nasal and ocular, which is separated from the subocular by a small temporal; eye not visible; nasal suture arising from first or second labial; SIP II (N1, P, S, S); scale rows 22-20-20, 20-20-20 or 22-20-22; MD 585-656; vertebrae 442-448; MD/ V ratio 1.32–1.38; L/D ratio 69–90. Colourless.

Size. Largest specimen (MHNN 1895.324 — Haut-Oubangui) 490 mm in total length.

Habitat. Lowland rain forest.

Distribution. Central African Republic and northern Democratic Republic of Congo in the catchments of the Oubangui and Uélé Rivers, 450–650 m (Figs. 10 & 11).

Localities. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Abiras (Joger 1990); Bangui (Joger 1990) MNHN 1991.379; ZFMK 40349; Haut-Oubangui MNHN 1895.324, 1916.262 (holotype); Kouki MNHN 1997.3194; Ouazoua MNHN 1997.3197; Sangba MNHN 1995.9606. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. Bembesa-Takpwo MRAC 11949 (holotype of T. vrydaghi).