Loyalty Islands blind snake

The Loyalty Islands blind snake (Ramphotyphlops willeyi) is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae.[3][4] The species is endemic to Melanesia.

Loyalty Islands blind snake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Typhlopidae
Genus: Ramphotyphlops
Species:
R. willeyi
Binomial name
Ramphotyphlops willeyi
(Boulenger, 1900)
Synonyms[2]
  • Typhlops willeyi
    Boulenger, 1900
  • Typhlina willeyi
    McDowell, 1974
  • Ramphotyphlops willeyi
    Bauer & Vindum, 1990

Etymology

edit

The specific name, willeyi, is in honor of British-Canadian zoologist Arthur Willey.[5]

Geographic range

edit

R. willeyi is found in the Loyalty Islands on Lifou and Maré, and on the island of New Caledonia.[2]

Habitat

edit

The preferred natural habitat of R. willeyi is unknown, but the species is known to occur at an elevation of 150 m (490 ft).[1]

Description

edit

The holotype of R. willeyi has a total length (including tail) of 19.5 cm (7.7 in). Its length is 32 times its diameter. Its color (in alcohol) is olive-brown dorsally, and yellowish ventrally. There are 22 scale rows around the body.[6]

Reproduction

edit

R. willeyi is oviparous.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Whitaker, A.H.; Sadlier, R.A. (2011). "Ramphotyphlops willeyi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T176206A7197125. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T176206A7197125.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Species Ramphotyphlops willeyi at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ^ McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series), ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume). (Ramphotyphlops willeyi, p. 75).
  4. ^ "Ramphotyphlops ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  5. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Ramphotyphlops willeyi, p. 286).
  6. ^ Boulenger (1900).

Further reading

edit
  • Bauer AM, Vindum JV (1990). "A checklist and key to the herpetofauna of New Caledonia, with remarks on biogeography". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 47 (2): 17–45. (Ramphotyphlops willeyi, new combination, pp. 23, 25, 39).
  • Boulenger GA (1900). "On a new Blind Snake from Lifu, Loyalty Islands". pp. 603–604. In: Willey A (1900). Zoological Results Based on Material from New Britain, New Guinea, Loyalty Islands and Elsewhere, Collected During the Years 1895, 1896 and 1897. Part V. pp. 531–830. (Typhlops willeyi, new species).
  • McDowell SB (1974). "A Catalogue of the Snakes of New Guinea and the Solomons, with Special Reference to Those in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Part I. Scolecophidia". Journal of Herpetology 8 (1): 1–57. (Typhlina willeyi, new combination, p. 47).