Typhlacontias punctatissumus punctatissimus Bocage, 1873

Santos, Bruna S., Marques, Mariana P., Bauer, Aaron M. & Ceríaco, Luis M. P., 2021, Herpetological results of Francisco Newton’s Zoological Expedition to Angola (1903 – 1906): a taxonomic revision and new records of a forgotten collection, Zootaxa 5028 (1), pp. 1-80 : 25-26

Typhlacontias punctatissumus punctatissimus Bocage, 1873

Material (three specimens): One juvenile specimen (MHNCUP/REP 280, formerly UP-MHNFCP-094986), collected from unknown locality, date unknown; one juvenile specimen (MHNCUP/REP 284, formerly UP- MHNFCP-095006; Fig. S46 ), collected from Mossamedes [= Moçâmedes] [-15.20000º, 12.15000º, 24 m a.s.l.] Namibe Province, in 1905 ; one juvenile specimen (MHNCUP/REP 292, formerly UP-MHNFCP-017386), collected from Bahia dos Tigres [= Baía dos Tigres] [-16.58559º, 11.82709º, 98 m a.s.l.] Namibe Province, in 1905 .

Comments: Typhlacontias punctatissumus punctatissimus is a Namib Desert endemic species known from southern Angola and northern Namibia ( Haacke 1997, Marques et al. 2018). No T. punctatissumus punctatissimus were cited by Ferreira (1904, 1906), but the locality for specimens MHNCUP/REP 284, REP 292 matches the expected range. Haacke (1997) reviewed the nomenclatural history of the genus and suggested the division of T. punctatissimus Bocage, 1873 into three different taxa (T. p. bogerti Laurent, 1964, T. p. brainei Haacke, 1997 and T. p. punctatissimus ). T. punctatissumus punctatissimus is distinguishable from T. p. bogerti by only having the third upper labial touching the eye, whereas in T. p. bogerti, both the second and third upper labials are in contact with the eye ( Haacke 1997). The two subspecies are sympatric in southern Angola ( Marques et al. 2018).

Figures

FIGURE S46. Specimen of Typhlacontias punctatissimus punctatissimus (MHNCUP/REP 284), from Moçâmedes. Photo by Bruna Santos.