Gierra's blind snake (''Afrotyphlops gierrai)'', also
commonly called the Usambara spotted blind snake and the Usambara spotted worm snake, is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
snake
Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Typhlopidae
The Typhlopidae are a family of blind snakes. They are found mostly in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and all mainland Australia and various islands. The rostral scale overhangs the mouth to form a shovel-like burrowing str ...
.
The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...
to
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
.
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 ...
, ''gierrai'', is in honor of Mr. A. Gierra, an expert in the languages of
North Africa
North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
and
East Africa
East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
, who collected the
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...
.
[ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Typhlops gierrai'', p. 100).]
Geographic range
''A. gierrai'' is found in the
Ukaguru Mountains
The Ukaguru Mountains (''Milima ya Ukaguru'' in Swahili) are a mountain range in eastern Tanzania. The mountains are administratively located in the Morogoro Region, specifically in the Kilosa District. The mountains are named for the Kaguru peopl ...
, the
Ulaguru Mountains, and the
Usambara Mountains
The Usambara Mountains of northeastern Tanzania in tropical East Africa, comprise the easternmost ranges of the Eastern Arc Mountains. The ranges are approximately long and about half that wide, and they are situated in the Lushoto District ...
of Tanzania.
[
]
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...
of ''A. gierrai'' is forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
, at altitudes of .
Reproduction
''A. gierrai'' is oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
.[
]
References
Further reading
* Barbour T, Loveridge A (1928). "A Comparative Study of the Herpetological Faunae of the Uluguru and Usambara Mountains, Tanganyika Territory with Descriptions of New Species". ''Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy at Harvard College'' 50 (2): 85–265. (''Typhlops punctatus gierrai'', new taxonomic status, pp. 106–108).
* Broadley DG, Wallach V (2009). "A review of the eastern and southern African blind-snakes (Serpentes: Typhlopidae), excluding ''Letheobia'' Cope, with the description of two new genera and a new species". ''Zootaxa'' 2255: 1–100. (''Afrotyphlops gierrai'', new combination, p. 38).
* Laurent RF (1964). "A Revision of the ''punctatus'' Group of African ''Typhlops'' ". ''Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University'' 130 (6): 387–444. (''Typhlops gierrai'', p. 417).
* Mocquard F (1897). "''Note sur quelques Reptiles de Tanga, don de M.'' ''Monsieur'' ''Gierra'' ". ''Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris'' 3 (4): 122–123. (''Typhlops gierrai'', new species). (in French).
gierrai
Snakes of Africa
Endemic fauna of Tanzania
Reptiles of Tanzania
Reptiles described in 1897
Taxa named by François Mocquard
{{Scolecophidia-stub