Fornasini's blind snake

Fornasini's blind snake
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Typhlopidae
Genus:	Afrotyphlops
Species:	A. fornasinii
Binomial name
	Afrotyphlops fornasinii; Bianconi, 1849
Synonyms[2]
	Typhlops fornasinii ; Bianconi, 1849; Onychocephalus trilobus ; W. Peters, 1854; Onychocephalus mossambicus ; W. Peters 1854; Onychocephalus tettensis ; W. Peters, 1860; Typhlops bianconii ; Jan in Jan & Sordelli, 1860; Typhlops fornasinii ; — Boulenger, 1893; Afrotyphlops fornasinii ; — Broadley & Wallach, 2009;

Fornasini's blind snake (Afrotyphlops fornasinii) is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae.[2][3][4] The species is endemic to southern Africa.[5]

Etymology

The specific name fornasinii is in honor of Carlo Antonio Fornasini, merchant and amateur naturalist from Bologna, Italy, who collected the type specimen in Mozambique.[6][7] He should not be confused with Carlo Fornasini (1854–1931), Italian paleontologist and politician.

Geographic range

Fornasini's blind snake has been found in southern Mozambique, South Africa (Zululand), and southeastern Zimbabwe.[2][5]

Description

A. fornasinii is completely gray or black, except for some yellowish on the throat and the ventral surface of the tail. Adults may attain a snout–vent length (SVL) of 18 cm (7 inches). The scales are arranged in 22–27 rows around the body. There are fewer than 300 scales in the vertebral row.[5]

The snout is very prominent, rounded, somewhat flattened, with a trilobate horizontal outline. The rostral is large, about half the width of the head, the portion visible from above almost as long as broad. The nostrils are located ventrally. The nasal is incompletely divided, the nasal cleft proceeding from the first upper labial. The scales on the upper surface of the head are enlarged. A preocular is present, in contact with the second upper labial. The preocular is slightly narrower than the nasal or the ocular. The eyes are barely distinguishable. There are four upper labials. The diameter of the body goes 23 to 30 times into the total length. The tail is short, slightly broader than long, ending in a spine.[8]

Habitat

A very small snake, A. fornasinii prefers grasslands and coastal bush.[5] It is also found in shrubland and savanna up to an altitude of 450 m (1,480 ft).[1]

Behavior

A. fornasinii is terrestrial and fossorial, burrowing under leaf litter and logs.[1]

Reproduction

A. fornasinii is oviparous.[2]

References

Pietersen D, Verburgkt L, Farooq H (2021). "Afrotyphlops fornasisii ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T22476091A120635797.en. Accessed on 13 April 2021.
Afrotyphlops fornasinii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 9 March 2017.
"Typhlops ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
McDiarmid, Roy W.; Campbell, Jonathan A.; Touré, T'Shaka A. (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp.
Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Typhlops fornasinii, p. 54 + Plate 40).
Bianconi, G. Giuseppe (26 April 1849). "Lettera al dottore Filippo de Filippi professore di zoologia a Torino sopra alcune nuove specie di rettili del Mozambico". Nuovi Annali delle Scienze Naturali, Bologna, Serie Seconda. 10: 106–109. ("Typhlops fornasini [sic]", new species, p. 107). (in Italian and Latin).
Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. (Typhlops fornasinii, p. 92).
Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families Typhlopidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I–XXVIII. (Typhlops fornasinii, pp. 38–39).

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[iucn-1] Pietersen D, Verburgkt L, Farooq H (2021). "Afrotyphlops fornasisii ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T22476091A120635797.en. Accessed on 13 April 2021.

[RDB-2] Afrotyphlops fornasinii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 9 March 2017.

[ITIS-3] "Typhlops ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved August 14, 2010.

[4] McDiarmid, Roy W.; Campbell, Jonathan A.; Touré, T'Shaka A. (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp.

[Branch2004-5] Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Typhlops fornasinii, p. 54 + Plate 40).

[filippi-6] Bianconi, G. Giuseppe (26 April 1849). "Lettera al dottore Filippo de Filippi professore di zoologia a Torino sopra alcune nuove specie di rettili del Mozambico". Nuovi Annali delle Scienze Naturali, Bologna, Serie Seconda. 10: 106–109. ("Typhlops fornasini [sic]", new species, p. 107). (in Italian and Latin).

[7] Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. (Typhlops fornasinii, p. 92).

[8] Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families Typhlopidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I–XXVIII. (Typhlops fornasinii, pp. 38–39).