Leptotyphlops (Broadley & Broadley, 1999)

Published, First, 2007, A revision of the genus Leptotyphlops in northeastern Africa and southwestern Arabia (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae), Zootaxa 1408, pp. 1-78 : 70-71

Key to the genus Leptotyphlops in northeastern Africa and southwestern Arabia (based on external characters)

1a. Midbody scale rows 16; 14 scale rows on tail; parietals separated from the frontal; no enlarged cloacal shield .......................................................................................................................................... L. parkeri

1b. Midbody scale rows 14; 10 or 12 scale rows on tail; parietals in contact with frontal; cloacal shield enlarged .................................................................................................................................................... 2

2a. Ocular shield excluded from lip by supralabials ..................................................................... L. dissimilis

2b. Ocular shield bordering lip ...................................................................................................................... 3

3a. A discrete frontal separates the rostral from the supraoculars................................................................. 4

3b. Frontal fused with the rostral, which is consequently in contact with the supraoculars........................ 23

4a. Posterior supralabial not reaching level of eye; precloacal shield semilunate; light brown above, lighter below ........................................................................................................................................................ 5

4b. Posterior supralabial reaching level of eye; precloacal shield heart-shaped or subtriangular; dark brown to black above and below ....................................................................................................................... 16

5a. Anterior supralabial much larger than infranasal; a stout thorn-like apical spine on the tail .................. 6

5b. Anterior supralabial subequal to infranasal; a small needle-like apical spine on the tail ........................ 8

6a. Middorsals less than 200; subcaudals 18–22; total length/diameter ratio less than 40 ........ L. boulengeri

6b. Middorsals more than 200; subcaudals more than 24; total length/diameter ratio more than 40 ............ 7

7a. Interparietal shield present; middorsals <240; subcaudals 29 or more, light nuchal collar absent .......... ............................................................................................................................................... L. reticulatus

7b. Interparietal shield absent, middorsals 248, subcaudals 26, light nuchal collar present ........... L. drewesi

8a. Twelve scale rows on tail ......................................................................................................................... 9

8b. Ten scale rows on tail............................................................................................................................. 12

9a. Middorsals more than 400, rostral width> 0.60, occipitals not fused ........................................... L. burii

9b. Middorsals less than 400, rostral width <0.55, occipitals fused ........................................................... 10

10a. Supranasals extending beyond rostral, frontal twice the size of supraoculars, rostral narrow (0.36 head width) ..................................................................................................................................... L. yemenicus

10b. Supranasals not extending beyond rostral, frontal subequal to supraoculars, rostral moderate (0.40–0.55 head width)............................................................................................................................................. 11

11a. Prominent tubercles on head shields, subcaudals = 34, weak beak extends below level of lip in lateral profile, anterior supralabial width along lip equal to that of infranasal ................................ L. erythraeus

11b. Tubercles absent on head shields, subcaudals = 34, weak beak not extending below level of lip in lateral profile, anterior supralabial width along lip twice that of infranasal ............................................ L. nursii

12a. Snout strongly hooked in profile ................................................................................... L. macrorhynchus

12b. Snout not or but feebly hooked in profile .............................................................................................. 13

13a. Subcaudals usually more than 35; range south of the Tana river ................................. L. ionidesi sp. nov.

13b. Subcaudals usually less than 35; range from the Tana river northwards ............................................... 14

14a. Middorsals more than 300; adults exceed 150 mm in total length ................................................. L. cairi

14b. Middorsals not more than 300; adults less than 150 mm in length ....................................................... 15

15a. Middorsals 278–300; subcaudals 30–32 ................................................................................ L. braccianii

15b. Middorsals 227–260; subcaudals 25–30 ......................................................................... L. tanae sp. nov.

16a. Eye beneath a clear window or dome in the ocular shield; middorsals usually more than 250; subcaudals usually more than 30....................................................................................................................... 17

16b. Eye below a flat ocular shield; middorsals usually less than 250; subcaudals usually less than 30...... 19

17a. Eye beneath a dome in the ocular shield; middorsals 272–322; subcaudals 30–44 ................ L. macrops

17b. Eye beneath a slightly domed window in the ocular shield; middorsals 229–269; subcaudals 28–39. 18

18a. Middorsals 229–237; range southeast Tanzanian coast to western Kenya................... L. howelli sp. nov.

18b. Middorsals 247–269; endemic to Pemba Island ........................................................................ L. pembae

19a. Middorsals usually less than 245; range southern Sudan, south through Uganda, Kivu, and Rwanda to southeast Tanzania.................................................................................................................................. 20

19b. Middorsals usually more than 245; range northern Tanzania (Kilimanjaro), Kenya and Ethiopia....... 22

20a. Middorsals less than 205; cloacal shield narrow; range southeast coast of Tanzania................................ ................................................................................................................................ L. mbanjensis sp. nov.

20b. Middorsals usually more than 205; cloacal shield broad....................................................................... 21

21a. Range: Eastern Kivu and adjacent Rwanda above 900 metres............................................. L. monticolus

21b. Range: Southern Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and northern Zambia below 1000 metres ................ L.emini

22a. A white patch below tail tip; total length/diameter ratio 62–77 ............................ L. aethiopicus sp. nov.

22b. No white patch below tail tip; total length/diameter ratio 44–55 .............................. L. keniensis sp. nov.

23a. Pale brown above, head darker, tail with a black tip; white below .................... L. nigroterminus sp. nov.

23b. Dark brown to black above and below .................................................................................................. 24

24a. Ten scale rows on tail ............................................................................ L. scutifrons pitmani subsp. nov.

24b. Twelve scale rows on tail ....................................................................................................................... 25

25a. Range: northern shores of Lake Tanganyika and Ruzizi valley ............................................. L. latirostris

25b. Range: southern Kenya and eastern Tanzania........................................................... L. scutifrons merkeri