Ramphotyphlops braminus (Daudin)

Broadley, Donald G. & Wallach, Van, 2009, 2255, Zootaxa 2255, pp. 1-100 : 63-65

Ramphotyphlops braminus (Daudin)

( Fig. 11B)

Brahminy blind-snake or Flowerpot snake

Eryx braminus Daudin, 1803 , Hist. Nat. Reptiles: 279. Type locality: “Coast of Coromandel, India,” [= Andhra Pradesh & N Tamil Nadu States, SE India], iconotype (holotype fide Smith and Taylor, 1945: 19 ; lectotype fide Kramer, 1977: 758 ), pl. 43 in Russell, 1796.

Tortrix Russelii Merrem, 1820: 84 . Iconotype: pl. 43 in Russell, 1796. Type locality: “ India orientali” [= eastern India].

Typhlops braminus — Fitzinger, 1826: 53; Jan, 1863: 11, 1864: 12; Peters, 1882: 91; Boulenger, 1893: 16; Bocage, 1896a: 90; Gough, 1908: 18; FitzSimons, F., 1910: 24, pl. 9, fig. 3, 1912: fig. 23.5, 1919: fig. 24.5; Sternfeld, 1910c: 11; Hewitt, 1911: 310; Werner, 1921: 290; Schmidt, 1923: 33; Loveridge, 1924: 3, 1955: 181, 1956b: 144; Essex, 1927: 927, figs. 83–84; Barbour & Loveridge, 1928: 105; Mahendra, 1936: 128, figs. 1, 7–11, 13–14; FitzSimons, V., 1937: 273; Moreau & Pakenham, 1941: 108; Uthmöller, 1941a: 40; Pakenham, 1947: 138; Guibé, 1949: 226; Smit, 1949: 125; McDowell & Bogert, 1954: 82; Brongersma, 1959: 120, fig. 1D; Gans & Laurent, 1965: 50; List, 1966: 38, pls. 7–9, fig. 4, pl. 15, fig. 1, pl. 21, fig. 3; Langebartel, 1968: 11; Bellairs, 1969a & 1970: 114, fig. 40A; Gabe & Saint-Girons, 1969: 5, 1972: 581, 1976: 35, pl. 9, fig. C; Guibé, 1970: 200, fig. 161C; McDowell, 1972: 237; Broadley, 1974: 24; Roux-Estève, 1974: 28, figs. 13.1 & 14, 1975a: 490, fig. 30; Hahn, 1977: 37; McLachlan, 1978: 353; Poynton & Broadley, 1978: 943; Visser, 1979: 43; Saint-Girons, H., 1982: 172, figs. 6D, 7G, 1988: 223; Dufaure & Saint-Girons, 1984: 17.

Argyrophis truncatus Gray, 1845: 138 . Type locality: “ Philippines,” syntypes (3), BMNH 1946.1.11.9–11.

Onychocephalus Capensis Smith, 1846 in 1838–1849: 111 (unnumbered), pl. 51, fig. 3, pl. 54, figs. 9–16. Type locality: “interior of Southern Africa” [= Cape of Good Hope, South Africa], syntypes (3), BMNH 1865.5.4.74–76 ( Waterhouse, 1880, Barnard, 1950, and Ulber, 1999, cite the date as December 1846 for part 24 while Branch & Bauer, 2005, list the date as 1838); Duméril & Duméril, 1851: 205; Günther, 1866: 25; Broadley, 1974: 25; McLachlan, 1978: 353.

Typhlops capensis — Peters, 1854: 621, 1855: 50; Lichtenstein, 1856: 21.

Typhlops brahminus — Bianconi, 1859: 503.

Ophthalmidium tenue Hallowell, 1861: 497 . Type locality: “ Hong-Kong , China,” syntypes (3), presumably ANSP, either missing or lost.

Typhlops (Typhlops) inconspicuus Jan, 1863: 11 . Type locality: “ Madagascar,” holotype, MNHN 928. (nomen nudum); Hahn, 1980: 39.

Typhlops (Typhlops) accedens Jan, 1863: 12 . Type locality: unknown (East Indies fide Hahn, 1980: 39 ), holotype, MSNM (destroyed July 1943 during WW II).

Typhlops (Typhlops) euproctus Boettger, 1882: 479 . Type locality: “Lukubé, insula Nossi-Bé, Madagascariensis” [= Lokobe, Nosy Be Island, W Antsiranana Province, N Madagascar], holotype, SMF 16571; Boettger, 1913: 309; Mertens, 1922: 177, 1967: 89.

Typhlops braminus arenicola Annandale, 1906: 192 . Type locality: not stated, Rámanád , Tamil Nadu State, southern India fide Das and Gayen, 2004: 97 , syntypes (3), BMNH 1946.1 . 11.64 and ZSI 15457–58 .

Typhlops limbrickii Annandale, 1906: 193 , pl. 9, figs. 3–3a. Type locality: “ Rámanád , [= Tamil Nadu State], southern India, syntypes (2), ZSI 15460.

Typhlops braminus pallidus Wall, 1909: 609 . Holotype: not located. Type locality: “ Dibrugarh , south bank of Brahmaputra [River], Upper Assam, India.”

Glauconia Braueri Sternfeld, 1910b: 69 . Holotype: ZMB 20728. Type locality: “Bagamoyo, Deutsch-Ostafrika ” [= Tanzania]; Boulenger, 1915b: 615; Loveridge, 1924: 4, 1936b: 228; Broadley, 1974: 25.

Typhlops fletcheri Wall, 1919: 556 , pl. 1 (upper right). Type locality: “ Nilgiri Hills , India,” holotype, not located.

Typhlops braminus braminus — Mertens, 1930: 278.

Typhlops khoratensis Taylor, 1962: 248 , fig. 13a. Type locality: “ Muak Lek , Friendship Highway, Sara Buru Province, Thailand,” holotype, FMNH 178263 .

Ramphotyphlops braminus — Robb, 1966: 675; Welch, 1982: 125, 1994: 49; Broadley, 1983: 50, fig. 12, 1990a: 50 & 377, fig. 12; Lanza, 1983: 219, 1990: 430; Pakenham, 1983: 21; Trape, 1990: 40; Branch, 1988a: 46, pl. 40, 1988b: 11, 1991: 12, 1993: 9, fig., 1994: 46, pl. 40, 1998: 53, pl. 40, 2001: 9, fig., 2005: 12, fig.; Bourquin, 1989: 20; Alexander, G., 1990: 8; Broadley & Howell, 1991: 20, fig. 54; Marais, 1992: 176, 3 figs., 2004: 279, 2 figs., 2007: 88, fig.; Meirte, 1992: 19; Frank & Ramus, 1995: 251; Greene, 1997: 151; Wallach, 1998a: 181, 1998b: 286; Mattison, 1999: 147; Spawls et al., 2002: 97, fig., 2006: 92; Areste & Cebrián, 2003: 42, 2 figs.; Kley, 2003: 382; Murphy, 2003: 552; Bourquin, 2004: 71; Brogard, 2005: 112 & 247; Schneider et al., 2005: 116; Trape & Ba, 2006: 363; Alexander & Marais, 2007: 53–54, 2 figs.; O’Shea, 2007: 66, fig.; Cundall & Irish, 2008: 599; Joger et al, 2008: 13, figs. 1–3; Wallach, 2009: 35.

Typhlops pseudosaurus Dryden and Taylor, 1969: 270 . Type locality: “ Harmon Village , Guam, Mariana Islands,” holotype, FMNH 189357 .

Typhlina bramina — Broadley, 1974: 24; Obst et al., 1984: 437, 2 figs., 1988: 773, 2 figs.; Brazaitis & Watanabe, 1992: 134, fig.

Typhlina bramina bramina — Auffenberg, 1980: 113.

Leptotyphlops braminus — Krakauer, 1994: 1.

Typhlops (Ramphotyphlops) braminus — Meirte, 1999: 221.

Ramphotyphlops (Typhlops) braminus — Shrestha, 2003: 444.

Rhamphotyphlops braminus — Jacobsen, 2005: 89.

Description. Snout rounded with narrow rostral (<1/3 head width) not reaching eye level, with anterior constriction visible dorsally; supraocular oblique, twice as long as broad; frontal, postfrontal, and interparietal smaller than supraocular, occasionally transversely enlarged; parietals transverse, enlarged, occipitals occasionally enlarged; nostrils lateral, nasal completely divided, inferior nasal suture contacting preocular and superior nasal suture extending onto dorsum of snout to contact rostral; preocular and ocular subequal in size; eye small, usually with distinct pupil, located near or under the supraocular border; a single postocular; fourth supralabial larger than other three supralabials combined and subequal to ocular; SIP T-III (N1, P, P, O). MSR 20 with no scale row reductions; MD 261–368 (mean = 319.0, n = 694); vertebrae 175–206 (mean = 186.5, n = 342); MD/V ratio 1.39–1.87 (mean = 1.71, n = 335); L/D ratio 30–57 (mean = 43.0, n = 215). Anterior head shields with distinct rows of whitish glands beneath their posterior borders, the prenasal gland line confluent with the posterior rostral gland line dorsally. Dorsum uniformly brown to black, lighter ventrally; lower snout, chin, cloacal region and tail tip pale cream or white in color. Lighter specimens have a dark apical spot on the anterior portion of dorsal scales. Largest specimen (ZSI—Rajaji Park, India) has a total length of 203 mm ( Husain & Tilak, 1995).

Habitat. A human commensal found in and around human habitation, also in gardens, loose soil, refuse heaps, decaying logs and trees, gutters and drain ditches, and under leaf litter, heaps of stones and piled up bricks, flower pots. Naturally occurs in all types of habitat from seashore dunes to tropical rainforest, frequently in disturbed areas and secondary growth, most commonly in moist soils.

Distribution (introduced in Africa). Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea ( Annobon), Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Libya, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sénégal, Somalia, Tanzania (Pemba, Zanzibar), South Africa, and Togo, 0–1200 m.

Localities. EGYPT. Cairo ( Baha El Din, 1996, 2001, 2006; Wallach, 1999); Suez Canal ( Ibrahim, 2005). SOMALIA. Mogadishu MCZ 74450. KENYA. No precise locality ( Loveridge, 1924); Mombassa ( Spawls et al., 1978); Pokomonie ( Sternfeld, 1908b). TANZANIA. Bagamoyo ( Sternfeld, 1910c); Dar-es-Salaam MCZ 24008, Liwale MCZ 52626, Lundi MCZ 48049–50; Pemba ( Pakenham, 1947); Zanzibar MNHN 1884.61, 5221; Zanzibar town ( Moreau & Pakenham, 1941). MOZAMBIQUE. No precise locality MBL 1116; Beira ( Broadley, 1983); Querimba Island ( Peters, 1882). SOUTH AFRICA. Cape Town ( McLachlan, 1978); Durban (Branch, 1988); Edgemead ( Visser, 1979) Porterville ( Turner et al., 2007).