Haug's worm lizard (''Cynisca haugi)'' 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 ...

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 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 ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''haugi'', is in honor of Protestant missionary Ernest Haug (died 1915), who collected specimens for the ''

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

'' (

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Geographic range

Within Gabon, ''C. haugi'' is found in Moyen-Ogooué Province.

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 ''C. haugi'' is unknown.

Description

The species ''C. haugi'' is small and relatively slender for its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

. Gans C (1987). The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

has a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of , plus a tail length of . Mocquard F (1904).

Behavior

''C. haugi'' is terrestrial 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

''C. haugi'' 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

* Gans C (1987). "Studies on Amphisbaenians (Reptilia). 7. The Small Round-headed Species (''Cynisca'') from Western Africa". ''American Museum Novitates'' (2896): 1–84. ("''Cynisca haughi'' ic, pp. 39–41 + Figures 7, 11, 13, 14, 19). *Gans C (2005). "Checklist and Bibliography of the Amphisbaenia of the World". ''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'' (289): 1–130. ("''Cynisca haughi'' ic", p. 28). * Mocquard F (1904). "''Description de quelques Reptiles et d'un Batracien nouveaux de la collection du Muséum'' ". ''Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris'' 10 (26): 301–309. (''Amphisbæna haugi'', new species, p. 301). (in French). * Pauwels OSG, Vande weghe JP (2008). ''Les Reptiles du Gabon''. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. 272 pp. . (''Cynisca haugi)''. (in French). Cynisca (lizard) Reptiles described in 1904 Taxa named by François Mocquard Endemic fauna of Gabon Reptiles of Gabon {{reptile-stub