Rhinotyphlops schinzi

Rhinotyphlops schinzi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Typhlopidae
Genus:	Rhinotyphlops
Species:	R. schinzi
Binomial name
Rhinotyphlops schinzi (Boettger, 1887)
Synonyms
Typhlops (Onychocephalus) schinzi Boettger, 1887 Typhlops schinzi - Boulenger, 1893 Rhinotyphlops schinzi - Roux-Estève, 1974[1]

Rhinotyphlops schinzi, commonly known as Schinz's beaked blind snake, is a species of snake in the Typhlopidae family. It is endemic to southern Africa.^[2][3]

Etymology

The specific name, schinzi, is in honor of "Herr Dr. Hans Schinz", who collected the first specimens in 1884 & 1885 in the Kalahari Desert. He should not be confused with Swiss naturalist Heinrich Rudolf Schinz (1777-1861).

Geographic range

It is found from Namibia and neighboring Botswana south to Calvinia and Kenhardt in Northern Cape, South Africa.^[4]

Description

Coloration varies from yellowish to flesh-colored. Dorsum marked with blue-black to reddish-brown blotches which may appear as crossbars. Ventrum and sides of body unmarked.

Adults may attain a total length of 28 cm (11 inches).

Scales arranged in 22-26 rows. More than 400 dorsal scales in the vertebral series.^[5]

Snout strongly hooked, with nostrils below the sharp cutting edge. Rostral large, but not extending as far as the eyes. Four upper labials. Nasal semidivided, the cleft proceeding from the first upper labial. Preocular present, narrower than the nasal or the ocular, in contact with the third upper labial. Eyes distinct. Upper head scales large than the body scales. Diameter of body 45 times in the total length. Tail as long as broad, ending in a spine.^[6]

Habitat

Arid savannah and semidesert.^[7]

References

1. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
2. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
3. "Rhinotyphlops". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
4. Branch, Bill. 2004. Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Ralph Curtis Books. Sanibel Island Florida. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. pp. 54-55. Plate 39.
5. Branch, 2004.
6. Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families Typhlopidæ... Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). London. p. 47
7. Branch, 2004.

Further reading

• Boettger, O. 1887. Zweiter Beitrag zur Herpetologie Südwest- und Süd-Afrikas. Bericht über die Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Frankfurt am Main. 1887: 135-173. [Typhlops (Onychocephalus) schinzi, pp. 154-156, Plate V., Figures 1a.-1e., & 2.]