Wilson's blind snake (''Myriopholis wilsoni'') 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
snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
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 ...
Leptotyphlopidae
The Leptotyphlopidae (commonly called slender blind snakes or thread snakes) are a family of snakes found in North America, South America, Africa and Asia. All are fossorial and adapted to burrowing, feeding on ants and termites. Two subfamilies ...
.
[ McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. (series). (volume). (''Leptotyphlops wilsoni'', p. 46).] The species is native to
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name, ''wilsoni'', is in honor of American mammalogist
Don Ellis Wilson.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. (''Leptotyphlops wilsoni'', p. 287).]
Geographic range
''M. wilsoni'' 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 the island of
Socotra
Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’s ...
in Yemen.
[
]
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 ...
s of ''M. wilsoni'' are 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' ...
and shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...
, at altitudes from sea level to .[
]
Reproduction
''M. wilsoni'' 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
* Adalsteinsson SA, Branch WR, Trape S, Vitt LJ, Hedges SB (2009). "Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata)". ''Zootaxa'' 2244: 1-50. (''Myriopholis wilsoni'', new combination).
* Hahn DE (1978). "A Brief Review of the Genus ''Leptotyphlops'' (Reptilia, Serpentes, Leptotyphlopidae) of Asia, with Description of a New Species". ''J. Herpetology'' 12 (4): 477–489. (''Leptotyphlops wilsoni'', new species).
* Sindaco R, Jeremčenko VK, Venchi A, Grieco C (2013). ''The Reptiles of the Western Paleartic, Volume 2: Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Snakes of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia, with an Update to Volume 1''. (Monographs of the ''Societas Herpetologica Italica''). Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 543 pp. .
Myriopholis
Reptiles described in 1978
Endemic fauna of Socotra
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN
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