Letheobia kibarae (Witte)

Wallach, Van, 2007, A review of East and Central African species of Letheobia Cope, revived from the synonymy of Rhinotyphlops Fitzinger, with descriptions of five new species (Serpentes: Typhlopidae), Zootaxa 1515, pp. 31-68 : 50-51

Letheobia kibarae (Witte)

( Fig 6 B)

Upemba gracile blind-snake

Typhlops kibarae Witte 1953 , Explor. Parc Nat. Upemba (6): 150, Fig. 35. Type locality: Kaswabilenga (région du cours inférieur de la Lupiala, affluent de la rive droite de la Lufira), Parc National de l’Upemba [= Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo] (08°48’S, 26°41’E, elevation 700 m), collected by Mission G.-F. de Witte, 31 January 1949, holotype IRSNB 2201.

Typhlops gracilis kibarae – Laurent 1960: 20.

Description. Snout with an angular horizontal edge. Rostral very broad, truncated posteriorly; frontal wide and curved, in contact with the rostral; supraocular oblique, its lateral apex wedged between preocular and tiny ocular, which is separated from the subocular by two to four temporals; eye not visible; nasal suture asising from first labial; SIP X (N2, P, S, S); scale rows 28-24-24; MD 562-618; vertebrae 345-370; MD/V ratio 1.57–1.76; L/D ratio 58–87.

Size. Largest specimen (IRSNB 2201 – holotype) 525 mm in total length ( Witte 1953).

Habitat. Savanna - Miombo woodland.

Distribution. Upemba National Park, southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, 700–1250 m ( Fig. 10 ).

Localities. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. Kanonga IRSNB 8059; Kaswabilenga IRSNB 2198-2000 (paratypes), 2201 (holotype), 2202-2203 (paratypes); MCZ 54379; Pelenge Gorges IRSNB 2198.

Figures

FIGURE 6. The Letheobia gracilis complex: dorsal, lateral and ventral views of head of: A. L. debilis (ZFMK 33684, holotype – Bangui, Central African Republic, after Joger, 1990: Fig. 3); B. L. kibarae (IRSNB 2201, holotype – Kaswabilenga, Democratic Republic of Congo, after Witte, 1953: Fig. 35); C. L. graueri (MCZ 30034 – Rwanda, near Ujiji, Tanzania, J. Boundy illustration). The lines indicate 1 mm to scale.

FIGURE 10. Distribution of the East African species of Letheobia.