The ugly worm lizard (Cynisca feae) is a species of amphisbaenian in the family Amphisbaenidae. The species is native to West Africa.

Ugly worm lizard
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Amphisbaenidae
Genus: Cynisca
Species:
C. feae
Binomial name
Cynisca feae
(Boulenger, 1906)
Synonyms[2]
  • Placogaster feae
    Boulenger, 1906
  • Cynisca feae
    Gans, 1987

Etymology

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The specific name, feae, is in honor of Leonardo Fea, who was an Italian explorer and naturalist.[3]

Geographic range

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C. feae is found in The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Senegal.[2]

Habitat

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The preferred natural habitat of C. feae is forest.[1]

Description

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C. feae may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 16 cm (6.3 in) and a tail length of 1.5 cm (0.59 in). It is pale brown dorsally, and white ventrally. It has a single series of wide median ventral segments, each of which is six times wider than long.[2]

Behavior

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C. feae is terrestrial and fossorial.[1]

Reproduction

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C. feae is oviparous.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Jallow, M.; Pauwels, O.S.G. (2013). "Cynisca feae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T176237A17201413. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T176237A17201413.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Cynisca feae at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 24 February 2019.
  3. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Cynisca feae, p. 88).

Further reading

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  • Boulenger GA (1906). "Report on the Reptiles collected by the late L. Fea. in West Africa". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie Terza [=Third Series] 2: 196–216. (Placogaster feae, new species, pp. 203–204, Figure 3, four views).
  • Gans C (1987). "Studies on Amphisbaenians (Reptilia). 7. The Small Round-headed Species (Cynisca) from Western Africa". American Museum Novitates (2896): 1–84. (Cynisca feae, new combination, pp. 35–37, Figure 17, three views).
  • Gans C (2005). "Checklist and Bibliography of the Amphisbaenia of the World". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (289): 1–130. (Cynisca feae, p. 28).
  • Pauwels OSG, Meirte D (1996). "Contribution to the knowledge of the Gambian herpetofauna". British Herpetological Society Bulletin (56): 27–34.