Afrotyphlops angolensis ( Bocage, 1866 )

Conradie, Werner, Baptista, Ninda L., Verburgt, Luke, Keates, Chad, Harvey, James, Júlio, Timóteo & Neef, Götz, 2021, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi river drainages. Part 1: Serpentes (snakes), Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 292) 15 (2), pp. 244-278 : 252

Afrotyphlops angolensis ( Bocage, 1866)

Angolan Blind Snake ( Fig. 5 , Map 3)

Material: PEM R 23357, en route to Cuito River source, Moxico Province, -12.43405° 18.43603°, 1,533 m asl. Description: Midbody scale rows 23; 318 ventral scales; 11 subcaudals. Size: 215 + 3.6 mm. Habitat and natural history notes: A single specimen was collected when a fallen tree obstructing the road was removed in pristine Miombo woodland. Comment: The specimen was identified as A. angolensis using the key provided by Broadley and Wallach (2009), but this needs to be confirmed using genetic data. This species was originally described from Angola by Bocage (1866) but is represented by fewer than 10 records from the country ( Marques et al. 2018). Outside of Angola, it is widespread throughout much of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC) through to Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia ( Broadley and Wallach 2009). Many historical names are currently subsumed under this name ( Broadley and Wallach 2009), and given its large geographical range, there is a need to investigate this species complex in a phylogenetic framework.

Figures

Fig. 5. Afrotyphlops angolensis en route to Cuito River source. Photo by Werner Conradie.