Amerotyphlops brongersmianus explained

Amerotyphlops brongersmianus, known commonly as Brongersma's worm snake or the South American striped blindsnake, is a species of harmless blind snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is native to South America and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. No subspecies are currently recognized.

Etymology

The specific name, brongersmianus, is in honor of Dutch herpetologist Leo Brongersma.^[1]

Geographic range

A. brongersmianus is found in South America (and the Caribbean island of Trinidad) south through mainland South America (east of the Andes) as far as Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. In between it is also known to occur in Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.

The type locality given is "Barra de Itaipe, Ilheus, Bahia [Salvador]", [Brazil].

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of A. brongersmianus are forest and savanna.

Description

A. brongersmianus may attain a total length (including tail) of 32.5cm (12.8inches). It has 20 scale rows around the body. The number of dorsal scales from the rostral scale to the terminal spine is, on average, 232.

Diet

The diet of A. brongersmianus from a semideciduous forest in Central Brazil consisted of ants of all stages of development, while earlier studies also mention termites and unspecified insects.^[2]

Reproduction

The species A. brongersmianus is oviparous.

Further reading

• Avila RW, Ferreira VL, Souza VB (2006). "Biology of the blindsnake Typhlops brongersmianus (Typhlopidae) in a semideciduous forest from central Brazil". Herpetological Journal 16 (4): 403–405.
• Book: Boos, Hans E.A.. The Snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. 2001. 1-58544-116-3.
• Hedges SB, Marion AB, Lipp KM, Marin J, Vidal N (2014). "A taxonomic framework for typhlopid snakes from the Caribbean and other regions (Reptilia, Squamata)". Caribbean Herpetology (49): 1-61. (Amerotyphlops brongersmianus, new combination, and type species of Amerotyphlops, new genus, p. 43).
• Vanzolini PE (1972). "Typhlops brongersmai spec. nov. from the coast of Bahia, Brasil (Serpentes, Typhlopidae)". Zoologische Mededelingen [Leiden] 47 (3): 27-29 + one figure.
• Vanzolini PE (1976). "Typhlops brongersmianus, a new name for Typhlops brongersmai Vanzolini, 1972, preoccupied (Serpentes, Typhlopidae)". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia [São Paulo] 29 (24): 247.

Notes and References

1. [Richard Allen "Bo" Crombet-Beolens|Beolens B]
2. Avila . Robson W. . Ferreira . Vanda L. . Souza . Vanessa B. . amp . 2006 . Biology of the blindsnake Typhlops brongersmianus (Typhlopidae) in a semideciduous forest from central Brazil . Herpetological Journal . 16 . 403–405 .