Rhinotyphlops schinzi (Boettger)

Broadley, Donald G. & Wallach, Van, 2009, 2255, Zootaxa 2255, pp. 1-100 : 61-62

Rhinotyphlops schinzi (Boettger)

( Fig. 11A)

Schinz’s beaked blind-snake

Typhlops (Onychocephalus) schinzi Boettger, 1887a: 154 , pl. 5, figs. 1–2. Type locality: “Noi Xas unweit Ghanze in der Nord-Kalayari, Südweat-Afrikas” [= between Aus and Keetmanshoop, Great Namaqualand, Noixas, Ghansi District, W. Kalahari, Botswana] (type locality restriction by Mertens, 1971: 75) (21.567°S, 21.783°E, elevation 1155 m), holotype SMF 16665 (formerly SMF 7047, 1A), collected by H. Schinz, 1884–1885; Mertens, 1922: 178, 1967: 88.

Typhlops (Onychocephalus) schinzii — Müller, 1890: 690; FitzSimons, V., 1966a: 38.

Typhlops schinzi — Boulenger, 1893: 47, 1910: 499; Boettger, 1898: 5; Sclater, 1898: 98; Gough, 1908: 18; FitzSimons, F., 1910: 26, 1912 & 1919: 52; Sternfeld, 1910d: 12; Werner, 1910: 353, 1921: 319; Hewitt & Power, 1913: 161; Duerden & Essex, 1923: 175, fig. 10; Schmidt, 1923: 33; Essex, 1927: 923, fig. 65; Rose, 1950: 253, 1955: 75, 1962: 321; Mertens, 1955: 86, 1967: 88, 1971: 75; FitzSimons, V. & Brain, 1958: 102; FitzSimons, V., 1970 & 1974: 67, 1978: 57; Broadley, 1983 & 1990a: 48, fig. 11, pl. 5; Haacke, 1984: 177; Auerbach, 1987: 147; Branch, 1988a & 1994: 47, pl. 39, 1988b: 11, 1988c: 175, 1990: 37; Coborn, 1991: 111, fig.; Freed, 1992: 82; Marais, 1992: 182, 3 figs., 1999: 84, fig.; Bauer et al., 1993: 134; Bates, 1995: 53.

Typhlops schinzii — FitzSimons, V., 1962: 70, fig. 8, col. pl. III, 1966a: 38; Isemonger, 1968: 85, 1983: 88.

Rhinotyphlops schinzi — Roux-Estève, 1974: 186, 1975a: 495, figs. 31–32; Hahn, 1977: 36; Elzen, 1980: 335; Welch, 1982: 126, 1994: 57; Coborn, 1991: 111; Meirte, 1992: 19; Wallach, 1993a: 217, 1998a: 182, 1998b: 342, 2003: 240; Frank & Ramus, 1995: 252; Branch, 1998: 53, pl. 39; Mattison, 1999: 147; McDiarmid et al., 1999: 83; Bauer & Branch, 2002: 154; Griffin, 2003: 86; Murphy, 2003: 552; Marais, 2004: 282, 2 figs.; 2007: 89, fig.; Brogard, 2005: 113; Schmidt, W., 2006: 15; Alexander & Marais, 2007: 50, fig.; Maritz & Alexander, 2009: 6.

Rhinotyphlops schinzii (sic) — Roux-Estève, 1974: pl. 8.

Rhinotyphlops (Onychocephalus) schinzi — Griffin, 2003: 86.

Rhinotypholops (sic) schinzi — Mattison, 2007: 198, fig.

Description. Snout prominent, strongly hooked, with a sharp cutting edge extending back to the nostrils, which are directed more or less laterally; rostral large, oviform, but not reaching the level of the eyes, ventrally about half the width of the head at the level of the nostrils; frontal hexagonal; supraocular large, transverse, its lateral apex between preocular and ocular; eye distinct towards anterior edge of ocular; nasal in contact with first and second labial, nasal suture arising from first. SIP T-II (N2, P, O, O), rarely T-X (on the left side of the holotype — Boettger, 1887a, pl. 5, fig. 1c). MSR 22–26 (mean 24.4, n = 17); MD 413–538 (mean 455.1, n = 14); vertebrae 217–272 (mean 236.8, n = 13); MD/V ratio 1.87–1.99 (mean = 1.92, n = 13); L/D ratio 34–64 (mean 45.9, n = 9). Pinkish to yellowish above, usually speckled with blackish to reddish brown, sometimes forming irregular crossbands, which may be confluent; uniform below. Largest specimen ( CM 119342 —Luderitz, Namibia) has a total length of 293 mm.

Distribution. From northwestern Namibia south to the Northern Cape Province of South Africa and the extreme west of Botswana near Ghanzi, 690–1310 m.

Localities. NAMIBIA. Aus TM 25736; Aus to Keetmanshoop ( Boettger, 1887a); Blaauwpoort TM 49421; Grabwasser TM 84908; Kalkfontein South ( FitzSimons, 1962); Kuyper TM 33058; Lüderitz TM 28303–04; Nina TM 30515; Okahandja ( Mertens, 1955); 6km N of Ongango TM 48928; Plateau 38, Lüderitz TM 43130, 48344–7; Twilight TM 43433–4; 25 km S of Windhoek NMZB-UM 12400. BOTSWANA. Noi Xas, Ghanzi SMF 16665 (holotype of Typhlops schinzi ). SOUTH AFRICA (NORTHERN CAPE PROV- INCE). ‘ Cape Colony’ BMNH 1910.8.5.1; Bakputs, Carnarvon ( FitzSimons, 1962); Brandvlei to Kenhardt TM 28702–03; Kakamas TM 22281; Kakamas to Pofadder TM 27184–85; Lower Molopo ( Hewitt & Power, 1913); Prieska ( FitzSimons, 1962); 16km N of Springbok TM 85291; Steinkopf MCZ 22404; Swartmodder ( FitzSimons, 1962); Tweerivieren TM 42500; Upington TM 4935.