Rhinotyphlops boylei, commonly known as Boyle's beaked blind snake,[3] is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae.[4][5] The species is native to southern Africa.[3]

Rhinotyphlops boylei
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Typhlopidae
Genus: Rhinotyphlops
Species:
R. boylei
Binomial name
Rhinotyphlops boylei
(FitzSimons, 1932)
Synonyms[2]
  • Typhlops boylei
    FitzSimons, 1932
  • Rhinotyphlops boylei
    Wallach, 1994

Etymology

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The specific name, boylei, is in honor of "A. M. Boyle, Esq.", who collected the holotype.[2]

Geographic range

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Indigenous to southern Africa, R. boylei is found from Damaraland in Namibia to western Botswana.[3]

Description

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Dorsally, R. boylei is olive-brown, the scales light-edged. Ventrally, it is pale yellow.

Adults may attain a snout-vent length (SVL) of 22 cm (8+12 in).

The scales are arranged in 26-28 rows around the body. There are more than 300 dorsal scales in the vertebral row.[3]

Habitat

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The preferred natural habitat of R. boylei is sandveld,[3] at altitudes of 1,000–1,400 m (3,300–4,600 ft).[1]

Reproduction

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R. boylei is oviparous.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Pietersen, D.; Verburgt, L.; Farooq, H. (2021). "Rhinotyphlops boylei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T22473415A22473422. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T22473415A22473422.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Species Rhinotyphlops boylei at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ^ a b c d e Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. p. 53.
  4. ^ 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. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  5. ^ "Rhinotyphlops ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.

Further reading

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  • 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. (Rhinotyphlops boylei, p. 59).
  • FitzSimons V (1932). "Preliminary descriptions of new forms of South African Reptilia and Amphibia, from the Vernay-Lang Kalahari Expedition, 1930". Annals of the Transvaal Museum 15 (1): 35–40. (Typhlops boylei, new species).
  • FitzSimons V (1966). "A check-list, with syntopic keys, to the snakes of southern Africa". Ann. Transvaal Mus. 25 (3): 35–79.