''Amphisbaena cunhai'' is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
amphisbaenian
Amphisbaenia (called amphisbaenians or worm lizards) is a group of usually legless squamates, comprising over 200 extant species. Amphisbaenians are characterized by their long bodies, the reduction or loss of the limbs, and rudimentary eyes. As ...
in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Amphisbaenidae
The Amphisbaenidae (common name: worm lizards) are a family of amphisbaenians, a group of limbless vertebrates.
Geographic range
Amphisbaenids occur in South America, some Caribbean islands, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa.
Taxonomy
One deep- ...
. The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name, ''cunhai'', is in honor of Brazilian herpetologist
Osvaldo Rodrigues da Cunha
Osvaldo Rodrigues da Cunha (6 April 1928 – 11 March 2011) was a Brazilian paleontologist and herpetologist.
Da Cunha was born in Belém, and studied zoology at the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA) of Manaus.
Selected wor ...
.
[ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Amphisbaena cunhai'', p. 62).]
Geographic range
''A. cunhai'' is found in the Brazilian states of
Amazonas and
Rondônia
Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, ...
.
[
]
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
of ''A. cunhai'' is forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
, but it is also found in cultivated areas that were previously forest.[
]
Behavior
''A. cunhai'' is terrestrial
Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth.
Terrestrial may also refer to:
* Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...
and fossorial
A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees.
Prehistoric eviden ...
.[
]
Reproduction
''A. cunhai'' is oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...
.[
]
References
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. (''Amphisbaena cunhai'', p. 113).
* Hoogmoed MS, Ávila-Pires TCS (1991). "A new species of smal ''Amphisbaena'' (Reptilia: Amphisbaenia: Amphisbaenidae) from western Amazonian Brazil". ''Boletim do Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi Serie Zoologia'' 7 (1): 77–94. (''Amphisbaena cunhai'', new species).
* Vanzolini PE (2002). "An aid to the identification of the South American species of ''Amphisbaena'' (Squamata, Amphisbaenidae)". ''Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo'' 42 (15): 351–362.
cunhai
Reptiles described in 1991
Taxa named by Marinus Steven Hoogmoed
Taxa named by Teresa C.S. Ávila-Pires
Endemic fauna of Brazil
Reptiles of Brazil
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