Myriopholis lanzai Broadley, Wade and Wallach, A, 2017

Bauer, Aaron M., DeBoer, Jonathan C. & Taylor, Dylan J., 2017, Atlas of the Reptiles of Libya, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 64 (8), pp. 155-318 : 238-239

Myriopholis lanzai Broadley, Wade and Wallach 2014: 353 , fig. 1

2014 Myriopholis lanzai Broadley, Wade and Wallach, A new species of Myriopholis from Ghat Oasis, South-western Libya ( Squamata: Leptotyphlopidae ). Arnoldia ( Zimbabwe) 10(30):351–359.

HOLOTYPE.— MZUF 36519 (ex NHCL 1543 ), “ Ghat Oasis , south-west Fezzan, Libya (24°59′N: 10°11′E) at 700 m a.s.l. ”

Leptotyphlops macrorhynchus [part], Kramer and Schnurrenberger 1963:477.

Leptotyphlops macrorhynchus [part], Le Berre 1989:246.

Leptotyphlops macrorhynchus [part], Sindaco, Venchi, and Grieco 2013:70.

DISTRIBUTION.— Myriopholis lanzai is a Libyan endemic, known only from the oasis of Ghat in southwestern Fezzan. Its proximity to the Algerian border, however, suggests that it may eventually be found there in the Tassili n’Ajjer.

Libyan Records (Map 46): FEZZAN: GHAT: 249: MCSN 2894; MSNM 2882, MZUF 36519, 36520, 39097–98; Scortecci 1934b, 1937a,b; Zavattari 1937; Scortecci 1939; Kramer and Schnurrenberger 1963; Broadley et al. 2014.

Comments.— Adelsteinsson et al. (2009) conducted a phylogenetic analysis of leptotyphlopids globally and established the genus Myriopholis for a group including the North African worm snakes. Leptotyphlopid records from the Sahara are very scattered (Sindaco et al. 2013) and the group has long been in desperate need of revision ( Trape 2002). All pre-2014 references to Fezzan leptotyphlopids are to Leptotyphlops machrorhynchus (now Myriopholis macrorhyncha ) ( Jan, 1860). Ghigi (1913) mentioned the species in his biogeographic remarks but omitted it from his list of Libyan reptiles. Le Berre (1989) indicated that the Libyan range of L. macrorhynchus included the area near Ghat, but also northwestern

Tripolitania, whereas Schleich et al. (1996) did not indicate any Libyan records. Sindaco et al.

(2013) used Scortecci’s (1934b, 1935b) references to Ghat material as the basis for their inclusion of Libya in the distribution of

L. macrorhynchus .

Broadley et al. (2014) briefly reviewed the history of the scattered records of North

African leptotyphlopids and described this new species from Ghat on the basis of a series of specimens. The holotype and one of the paratypes ( MZUF 39097 ) were collected in

1934 by G. Garganese, another three paratypes were collected by G. Scortecci , one on March 16, 1934 (MZUF 39098) and two on 13 October 1936 (MZUF 36520 and MSNM 2882). The last two were noted by Scortecci (1937) MAP 46. Distribution of Myriopholis lanzai in Libya. whereas the earlier one may be that noted by Scortecci (1934b). Scortecci (1939) also referred to the presence of a leptotyphlopid species at Ghat, but did not explicitly mention a taxon by name.

UCN Threat Status: Not assessed, but assumed to be Data Deficient.