''Typhlosaurus'' is a
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 ...
of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
s, one of a number of
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
of limbless lizards in the skink family (
Scincidae). This group was recently revised with most species formerly attributed to ''Typhlosaurus'' now placed in ''
Acontias
''Acontias'' is a genus of limbless skinks, the lance skinks, (family Scincidae) in the African subfamily Acontinae.Branch 2004. Most are small animals, but the largest member of the genus is ''Acontias plumbeus'' at approximately snout-ven ...
''.
The current definition of ''Typhlosaurus'' includes five attenuate body legless lizards from southwestern Africa (
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
,
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
,
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
and
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
). This is the sister genus to ''Acontias'', which together form the well supported Afrotropical subfamily Acontinae.
Species
Five species are recognized as being valid.
[ www.reptile-database.org.]
*''
Typhlosaurus braini''
Haacke, 1964 – Haacke's legless skink, Brain's legless skink, Brain's blind legless skink
*''
Typhlosaurus caecus''
( Cuvier, 1817) – southern blind legless skink, Cuvier's legless skink
*''
Typhlosaurus lomiae''
Haacke, 1986 – Lomi's blind legless skink
*''
Typhlosaurus meyeri''
Boettger, 1894 – Meyer's blind legless skink, variable blind legless skink
*''
Typhlosaurus vermis''
Boulenger, 1887 – Boulenger's legless skink, pink blind legless skink
''
Nota bene
(, or ; plural form ) is a Latin phrase meaning "note well".
It is often abbreviated as NB, n.b., or with the ligature
and first appeared in English writing . In Modern English, it is used, particularly in legal papers, to draw the atten ...
'': A
binomial authority
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Typhlosaurus''.
References
Further reading
*
Boulenger GA (1887). ''Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. Lacertidæ, Gerrhosauridæ, Scincidæ, Anelytropidæ, Dibamidæ, Chamæleontidæ.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I-XL. (Genus ''Typhlosaurus'', p. 432).
*
Branch, Bill (2004). ''Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa''. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. . (Genus ''Typhlosaurus'', p. 135).
*
Goin CJ, Goin OB,
Zug GR (1978). ''Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition''. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. . (Genus ''Typhlosaurus'', p. 303).
*
Wiegmann AFA (1834). ''Herpetologia Mexicana, seu descriptio amphibiorum Novae Hispaniae, quae itineribus comitis de Sack, Ferdinandi Deppe et Chr. Guil. Schiede in Museum Zoologicum Berolinense pervenerunt. Pars prima, saurorum species amplectens. Adiecto systematis saurorum prodromo, additisque multis in hunc amphibiorum ordinem observationibus''. Berlin: C.G. Lüderitz. vi + 54 pp. + Plates I-X. (''Typhlosaurus'', new genus, p. 54). (in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
).
Lizard genera
Taxa named by Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann
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