Kimberley deep-soil blind snake explained

The Kimberley deep-soil blind snake (Anilios howi) is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae.^[1] The species is endemic to Australia.

Etymology

The specific name, howi, is in honour of Australian zoologist Richard Alfred How (born 1944).^[2]

Geographic range

A. howi is found in the Australian state of Western Australia.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of A. howi is grassland.

Description

A. howi has 18 scale rows at midbody, and it has 434 ventrals. The nasal is completely divided, and the nasal cleft proceeds from the second upper labial. The holotype has a total length of . Dorsally, it is dark brown, darker on the head, and even darker toward the tail tip. Ventrally, it is lighter brown.^[3]

Behaviour

A. howi is terrestrial and fossorial.

Reproduction

A. howi is oviparous.

Further reading

• Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. . (Ramphotyphlops howi, p. 803).
• 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. (Anilios howi, new combination).
• Storr GM (1983). "A New Ramphotyphlops (Serpentes: Typhlopidae) from Western Australia". Records of the Western Australian Museum 10 (4): 315–317. (Ramphotyphlops howi, new species).
• Wallach V (2006). "The nomenclatural status of Australian Ramphotyphlops (Serpentes: Typhlopidae)". Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society 42 (1): 8-24. (Austrotyphlops howi, new combination).

Notes and References

1. [species:Roy Wallace McDiarmid|McDiarmid RW]
2. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]
3. [Glen Milton Storr|Storr GM]