Ramphotyphlops Fitzinger, 1843

Broadley, Donald G. & Wallach, Van, 2009, 2255, Zootaxa 2255, pp. 1-100 : 62

Ramphotyphlops Fitzinger, 1843

Australasian blind-snakes

Typhlina Wagler, 1830: 196 . Type species: Acontias lineatus Reinwardt (= Typhlops lineatus Fitzinger, 1826: 24 , Boie, 1827: 563, and Schlegel, 1827: 291 —all nomina nuda), by subsequent designation of Fitzinger, 1843: 24; Hahn, 1980: 36. Preoccupied by Typhlina Ehrenberg in Hemprich, 1828 (Rotifera). Suppressed for the purposes of the Law of Priority (ICZN, 1982: 106).

Ramphotyphlops Fitzinger, 1843: 24 . Type species: Typhlops multilineatus Schlegel, 1839 in 1837–1844, by original designation; McDiarmid et al., 1999: 55. Conserved as Official Generic Name no. 2156 (ICZN, 1982: 106).

Pseudotyphlops Fitzinger, 1843: 24 . Type species: Typhlops polygrammicus Schlegel, 1839 in 1837–1844, by original designation. Preoccupied by Pseudotyphlops Schlegel, 1839 in 1837–1844 (Serpentes: Uropeltidae ).

Pilidion Duméril & Bibron, 1844: 257 . Replacement name for Typhlina Wagler, 1830 .

Typhlinalis Gray, 1845: 134 . Replacement name for Typhlina Wagler, 1830 .

Diagnosis. —An Australasian genus whose sole African representative (introduced) is characterized by the following characters: nasal shield completely divided with superior nasal suture extending onto dorsum of snout, inferior nasal suture contacting preocular, 20 scale rows throughout body, narrow rostral (less than 1/3 interocular head width), single postocular, poorly developed eye or eyespot, prominent cephalic glands forming lines beneath head shields, and small size (maximum length 200 mm).

Distribution.— Southeastern Asia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and islands of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, except for Ramphotyphlops braminus , which also has been introduced throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

Content. —Currently 22 species.