Leptotyphlops mbanjensis, Published, 2007

Published, First, 2007, A revision of the genus Leptotyphlops in northeastern Africa and southwestern Arabia (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae), Zootaxa 1408, pp. 1-78 : 37

Leptotyphlops mbanjensis sp. nov. ( Plate 10 , Fig. 2)

Mbanja worm snake

Leptotyphlops emini emini – Loveridge, 1942: 259; McDiarmid et al., 1999: 29 (part).

Leptotyphlops emini — Spawls et al., 2002: 393 (part).

Holotype. MCZ 45040, a female from Mbanja , ca. 6 km N Lindi, Lindi District, Lindi Region, Southern Province, Tanzania (09°24’S, 39°45’E, 130 m), collected by A. Loveridge, 26 April 1939.

Allotype. MCZ 48038, a male with same collection data as holotype.

Paratypes. MCZ 48039 and FMNH 42726 (formerly MCZ 48042), males with same collection data as holotype ; HUJR 4353 (formerly MCZ 48041), decomposed specimen of undetermined sex .

Diagnosis. A member of the Leptotyphlops nigricans species group, closely resembling L. emini but distinguished by its lower midddorsal counts and the presence of a triangular postparietal bone in the skull.

Description. Body cylindrical, head narrower than neck and body, short thick tail that abruptly tapers to a blunt cone.

Snout rounded, rostral moderate (0.40–0.51 head width, mean = 0.45) and truncated posteriorly, wider than nasals and extending to a line connecting posterior edge of eyes, a preoral groove present ventrally. Behind rostral, upper lip bordered by infranasal (nostril nearer to rostral than supralabial along nasal suture), small anterior supralabial not reaching level of nostril and half as tall as infranasal with width along lip 1.5 times that of infranasal, large ocular with eye along anterior edge of upper half, and tall posterior supralabial. Supraoculars rectangular, oblique, subequal to frontal (broader transversely but narrowed longitudinally), which is narrower than postfrontal. Interoccipital broader than interparietal, which is broader than postfrontal. Parietals oblique, slightly broader than the enlarged fused occipitals, in contact with posterior supralabials. Temporal single. No mental.

Body covered with 14 rows of smooth, imbricate, subequal scales. Reduction to 10 rows on the tail takes place lateral to the nearly triangular cloacal shield. Total middorsals 185–197, subcaudals 22–24.

Total length/diameter ratio 38–54, total length/tail ratio 11.5–12.0.

Dorsum and venter uniformly dark brown to blackish-brown with lower edge of supralabials and first pair of infralabials dirty white, posterior border of cloacal shield and adjacent scales dirty white.

Skull with a triangular postparietal bone present.

Size. Largest specimen (MCZ 48040) 123 + 11.5 = 134.5 mm.

Habitat. Orchard forest with mango trees and waist-high grass (Loveridge, 1944). Loveridge (1942) reported specimens taken in rainy season by uprooting grass and scraping over the tent site.

Distribution. Restricted to extreme southeastern Tanzania, 90–130 m ( Plate 5 ).

Localities. TANZANIA: Mbanja MCZ 48038–40, FMNH 42726, HUJ R4353; Mikindani ZMB 22072; Tendaguru ZMB 23578.

Figures

PLATE 5. Leptotyphlops. Distribution of the Leptotyphlops parkeri, L. reticulatus, L. longicaudus and L. nigricans species groups in northeastern Africa and southwestern Arabia.

PLATE 10. Figure 1. Leptotyphlops monticolus. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of NMZB 15309 — Katare, Kivu, D.R.C. The line represents 1 mm to scale. Figure 2. Leptotyphlops mbanjensis sp. nov. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of the holotype, MCZ 48040 — Mbanja, Lindi District, Tanzania. The line represents 1 mm to scale. Figure 3. Leptotyphlops keniensis sp. nov. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of the holotype, NMK/O. 2903 — Nyeri, Kenya. The line represents 1 mm to scale. Figure 4. Leptotyphlops aethiopicus sp. nov. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of the holotype, BMNH 1911.12.13.17 — near Harer, Ethiopia. The line represents 1 mm to scale.