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Urucum worm lizard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Urucum worm lizard
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Amphisbaenidae
Genus: Amphisbaena
Species:
A. leeseri
Binomial name
Amphisbaena leeseri
Gans, 1964

The Urucum worm lizard (Amphisbaena leeseri) is a species of amphisbaenian in the family Amphisbaenidae. The species is native to central South America.

Etymology

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The specific name, leeseri, is in honor of Leo Leeser (1871–1942), who died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, but whose estate funded the Leo Leeser Center for Tropical Biology.[2]

Geographic range

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A. leeseri is found in southwestern Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul state) and in adjacent northern Paraguay.[3]

Habitat

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The preferred natural habitat of A. leeseri is savanna.[1]

Description

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A. leeseri is small for its genus. It has 216–240 body annuli (rings of scales), and 14–16 tail annuli.[3]

Behavior

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A. leeseri is terrestrial and fossorial.[1]

Reproduction

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A. leeseri is oviparous.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Silveira AL et al. (20 authors) (2021). "Amphisbaena leeseri ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T63488494A63488505.pt. Accessed on 11 May 2024. (in English and Portuguese).
  2. ^ 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. (Amphisbaena leeseri, p. 154).
  3. ^ a b c Amphisbaena leeseri at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 24 February 2019.

Further reading

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  • Cacciali P, Scott NJ, Ortíz ALA, Fitzgerald LA, Smith P (2016). "The Reptiles of Paraguay: Literature, Distribution, and an Annotated Taxonomic Checklist". Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Special Publication (11): 1–373.
  • Gans C (1964). "New Records of Amphisbaena sivestrii Boulenger, and the Description of a New Two-pored Species from the Northern Chaco". Copeia 1964 (3): 553–561. (Amphisbaena leeseri, new species).
  • Gans C (2005). "Checklist and Bibliography of the Amphisbaenia of the World". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (289): 1–130. (Amphisbaena leeseri, p. 16).
  • Vanzolini PE (2002). "An aid to the identification of the South American species of Amphisbaena (Squamata, Amphisbaenidae)". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo 42 (15): 351–362.