Ancylocranium Explained

Ancylocranium is a genus of amphisbaenians, commonly known as sharp-snouted worm lizards, in the family Amphisbaenidae. Three species are placed in this genus, which is endemic to eastern Africa and the Horn of Africa.

Species

The following species are recognized as being valid.^[1]

• Ancylocranium barkeri Loveridge, 1946 – Lindi sharp-snouted worm lizard
• Ancylocranium ionidesi Loveridge, 1955 – Kilwa sharp-snouted worm lizard
• Ancylocranium somalicum (Scortecci, 1930) – Somali sharp-snouted worm lizard

Nota bene

A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Ancylocranium.

Further reading

• Gans C (2005). "Checklist and Bibliography of the Amphisbaenia of the World". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (289): 1–130.
• Loveridge A (1946). "A new worm-lizard (Ancylocranium barkeri) from Tanganyika Territory". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 59: 73–76, Plate VIII.
• Loveridge A (1955). "On a second collection of reptiles and amphibians taken in Tanganyika Territory by C. J. P. Ionides". Journal of the East African Natural History Society 22: 168–198. (Ancylocranium ionidesi, new species, pp. 169, 177–179).
• Parker HW (1942). "The Lizards of British Somaliland". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy at Harvard College 91 (1): 1–101. (Ancylocranium, new genus, p. 57).
• Scortecci G (1930). "Contributo alla conoscenza dei rettili e degli anfibi della Somalia, dell'Eritrea e dell'Abissinia ". Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia comparata della R[egia]. Università di Torino [Third Series] 41 (10): 1–26. (Anops somalicus, new species). (in Italian).

Notes and References

1. www.reptile-database.org.