Afrotyphlops steinhausi (Werner)

Broadley, Donald G. & Wallach, Van, 2009, 2255, Zootaxa 2255, pp. 1-100 : 34-35

Afrotyphlops steinhausi (Werner)

( Fig. 5C)

Cameroon blind-snake

Typhlops steinhausi Werner, 1909 , Mitt. Naturh. Mus. Hamburg, 26: 209. Type locality: “Boukoko, Rép. Centrafricaine” [= Central African Republic] (3.900°N, 17.933°E, elevation 560 m), neotype MNHN 1946.139 (listed as 1964.139 fide Hahn, 1980: 72 ), designated by Roux-Estève, 1974: 68 (holotype lost fide Roux-Estève, 1974: 63 , two ZMH syntypes (destroyed July 1943 during WW II fide Hahn, 1980 ): 72, two ZMH syntypes (missing fide Hallermann, 1998: 216 ); Boulenger, 1920: 271; Werner, 1909: 209, 1921: 312; Schmidt, 1923: 32; Loveridge, 1936a: 20; Hoffstetter, 1939:figs. 1A & 2B; Williams, 1959: fig. 1A; Laurent, 1964: 422, 1965: 14; Roux-Estève, 1965: 53, fig. 2, 1974: 63, figs. 13.11 & 41, 1975a: 490, fig. 30; Hahn, 1977: 37, 1980: 72; Welch, 1982: 130, 1994: 75; Chifundera, 1990: 141; Meirte, 1992: 22; Wallach, 1993b: 33, 1998a: 183, 1998b: 442; Frank & Ramus, 1995: 254; Broadley, 1998b: xii; Mattison, 1999: 147; McDiarmid et al., 1999: 120; Murphy, 2003: 553; Brogard, 2005: 115; Cundall & Irish, 2008: 600.

Typhlops batesii Boulenger, 1911a , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (8) 8(45): 370. Type locality: “Bitye, South Cameroon ” (3.017°N, 12.367°E, elevation 615 m), syntypes (3) BMNH 1946.1.23.48–50 (formerly BMNH 1912.6.27.4–6), collected by G.L. Bates; Werner, 1921: 312; Hahn, 1980: 72; McDiarmid et al., 1999: 120.

Typhlops batesi — Werner, 1921: 271; Schmidt, 1923: 32.

Typhlops intermedius — (not Jan) Schmidt, K., 1923: 47 (part, Niangara).

Typhlops steinhousi (sic) — Hahn, 1980: 72; McDiarmid et al., 1999: 120.

Rhinotyphlops steinhausi — Broadley & Wallach, 2000: 167.

Description. Snout rounded, prominent. Rostral broad, oval; frontal subhexagonal; supraocular transverse, its lateral apex between preocular and ocular; eye visible below preocular; nasal sulcus arising from first labial; SIP T-X (P, P, O, O); MSR 26–28; MD 378–430 (mean 406.6, n = 18); vertebrae 235–255 (mean 245.7, n = 18); MD/V ratio 1.60–1.74 (mean 1.65, n = 18); L/D ratio 41–44 (mean 42.3, n = 4). Dark brown above, each scale paler posteriorly, venter immaculate. Largest specimen (MNHN 1964.139—Boukoko, Central African Republic) has a total length of 620 mm.

Distribution. Rainforest from southeastern Nigeria through Cameroon and southern Central African Republic to northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ituri Forest), 0–645 m ( Fig. 12).

Localities. CAMEROON. Ajoshöhe am Nyong ZMB 30686 B; Bitye BMNH 1946.1.23.48–50 (syntypes of Typhlops batesii Boulenger ), BMNH 1914.5.27.4–5; Kribi FMNH 4034 . CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUB- LIC. Boukoko MNHN 1946.139 (neotype of Typhlops steinhausi Werner ) ; La Maboké MNHHN 1963.867 , 1964.406 – 08 , coll. Pujol 462–64, 466–67, 469, 480 ( Roux-Esteve, 1974). DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Niangara AMNH 11630–31 . NIGERIA. Oban District BMNH 1910.2 .32.2.