“Anteaters” under the airport: a slender new species of blindsnake, genus Indotyphlops, from Timor-Leste (Scolecophidia: Typhlopidae: Asiatyphlopinae)
Abstract
We describe a slender immature female blindsnake from the main airport in Dili, Timor-Leste, as a new species of Indotyphlops, adding a third species to the country's known blindsnake fauna of Sundatyphlops polygrammicus (Schlegel, 1839) and Virgotyphlops braminus (Daudin, 1803). The new species has the following combination of characteristics: small size (snout–vent length = 119 mm), slender body (relative body thickness 71), T-V supralabial imbrication pattern, relative rostral width 0.36, 434 middorsal scales, relative tail length 1.7%, absence of enlarged occipital scales, and apical spine absent. The snake was found in an ant nest under several flat rocks near the fuel depot of Nicolau Lobato International Airport, and this habitat and the discovery in a busy location with heavy human impacts indicate that the species is likely a primarily subterranean myrmeco- or termitophage.Citation
O'Shea, M., Wallach, V., Hsiao, E. and Kaiser, H. (2023) “Anteaters” under the airport: a slender new species of blindsnake, genus Indotyphlops, from Timor-Leste (Scolecophidia: Typhlopidae: Asiatyphlopinae). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 101(6), pp. 486–498.Publisher
Canadian Science PublishingJournal
Canadian Journal of ZoologyAdditional Links
https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/cjz-2022-0097Type
Journal articleLanguage
enDescription
This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Canadian Science Publishing on 08/06/2023. The published version of the article can be freely accessed on the journal website at: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2022-0097 The accepted manuscript may differ from the final published version.ISSN
0008-4301EISSN
1480-3283ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1139/cjz-2022-0097
Scopus Count
Collections
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/