Madatyphlops Explained

Madatyphlops is a genus of snakes in the family Typhlopidae.

Madatyphlops may represent a surviving clade of the ancestral Typhlopidae, which are thought to have originated on Madagascar during the Cretaceous, before later dispersing to mainland Africa and then worldwide. This makes it, Xenotyphlops, and the Madagascan big-headed turtle the only Malagasy terrestrial vertebrates whose isolation on Madagascar is due to Gondwanan vicariance.^[1]

Geographic range

The 15 species of the genus Madatyphlops are found mostly on Madagascar, but also occur on the Comoro Islands. A fossil species occurred on Mauritius.

Species

The following species are recognized as being valid.^[2]

• Madatyphlops albanalis
• Madatyphlops andasibensis
• Madatyphlops arenarius
• Madatyphlops boettgeri
• Madatyphlops cariei – extinct
• Madatyphlops comorensis
• Madatyphlops decorsei
• Madatyphlops domerguei
• Madatyphlops eudelini ^[3]
• Madatyphlops madagascariensis
• Madatyphlops microcephalus
• Madatyphlops mucronatus
• Madatyphlops ocularis
• Madatyphlops rajeryi
• Madatyphlops reuteri

Nota bene

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

Further reading

• Hedges, S. Blair

Marion, Angela B.; Lipp, Kelly M.; Marin, Julie; Vidal, Nicolas (2014). "A taxonomic framework for typhlopid snakes from the Caribbean and other regions (Reptilia, Squamata)". Caribbean Herpetology 49: 1-61. (Madatyphlops, new genus, p. 42).

Notes and References

1. Ali . Jason R. . Hedges . S. Blair . 2023-05-04 . The colonisation of Madagascar by land‐bound vertebrates . Biological Reviews . en . 10.1111/brv.12966 . 1464-7931.
2. . www.reptile-database.org.
3. Hawlitschek. Oliver. Scherz. Mark D.. Webster. Kathleen C.. Ineich. Ivan. Glaw. Frank. Morphological, osteological, and genetic data support a new species of Madatyphlops (Serpentes: Typhlopidae) endemic to Mayotte Island, Comoros Archipelago. The Anatomical Record. 2021. 304. 10. 2249–2263. en. 10.1002/ar.24589. 33611842. 1932-8494. free.